The Ocarina of Time
by Peptuck
Summary: A black shadow of evil spreads across Hyrule, and all hopes rest upon a lone warrior, his fairy guardian, and the courage in his heart....An in-depth novelization of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
1. Prologue: Premonition

_An unending stream of darkness swept over her, striking at her defenses, destroying her body in a torrent of unyielding, rapacious evil. It was choking her even as she fought it with all of her power, its dark intentions barely slowed by her will._

_Yet she continued to fight it, calling for aid as she stood in the midst of that land which she loved the most and before those people that she protected. She evoked her full strength, calling upon all the arts and wisdom she held, calling upon the gods themselves to protect her, and let her drive back this unyielding enemy._

_It _laughed_ at her efforts._

_She reached out to the land itself, calling upon the spirits to aid her, but they remained silent. The shadow reached out over each corner of the world, stilling those that would aid her. She was beaten back, the furious clouds of evil pressing in, driving her down under its endless might._

_The edge of the cloud then reached over one last, unblemished corner of the world, the forest on the edge of her lands and her sight, to consume this portion of the world that had eluded its hunger. The darkness began to drop into the woods, and the ground shook. For an instant she believed that it had ended, and that the encompassing darkness had finished its attack and enveloped the entire world. _

_Silver light erupted from the forest, driving the shadow before it in a blinding torrent. The darkness recoiled, pulling away from her and turning on the light. Its efforts shifted wholly toward this force of righteous power, as if it had sensed a true threat to its intentions._

_From the illumination burst strands of color, reaching across the world, and she could hear the resounding cries of the spirits, answering the calls of the righteous force battling the darkness. Green burst from the forest, red from the eastern barrens, blue from the rivers and oceans, glowing gold from the farthest deserts, and dark purple from the shadows in between all. White light descended from above, and joined with the pure silver in a shimmering storm of defiance against the evil clouds._

_It gathered against the combined storm of spiritual energy, and the two collided, crashing against one another. An eternity passed, with shadow and light driving one another back. Darkness was swept away and rallied, and light was battered down and shone ever brighter as it surged anew. Amidst the chaos, she could hear the ringing tones of a song, a melody of defiance and war and ferocity and courage. The shining illumination suddenly vanished, and she feared that it had suddenly been destroyed, and called out, adding her voice to the song, putting her will behind the light._

_The ground shook once again, and in a thunderclap of violence, the shadow vanished, and light - pure, unfiltered brilliance - filled the world. The multicolored strands whirled and danced in the air, spreading their power across the battered world, and the silver column descended, crashing down before her. It gathered, intensifying until it almost blinded her, and then resolved into the shape of a person, striding forward, a blade of silver in one hand. In the other was a gleaming green object, a shining emerald stone that overflowed with the vibrant life of the forest the light had burst from._

_Above the person was another dancing light, almost lost amidst its brilliance - the blue glow and gossamer wings of a fairy . . . ._

* * *

_**The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time**_

_**A Novelization**_

* * *

"_**To thou . . . I shalt not surrender, dark one."**_

"_You have no choice, you decrepit spirit! Sacrifice the Spiritual Stone, or I will _burn _this forest to the ground!"_

"_**Whilst I yet live, thou cannot do that."**_

" _. . . . heh, if that's how you want it."_

"_**Thou cannot harm me in this forest, Gerudo. Thine power is useless against me here."**_

"_You overestimate yourself, you sack of kindling. Behold _my _power: the power of the Gerudo's greatest King!"_

"_**I shalt not yield."**_

"_You don't have a choice. Don't you feel it? Its already in there, deep inside, tearing at your core, ripping at your heart. That is my power, my curse upon you. You can still give up the stone, and I can spare you."_

" _**Thou art a fool to think thine threats will sway me."**_

"_Have it your way. Once you die and your spirit fades, there will be nothing to stop me from coming into this forest and burning it down, and taking the Stone for myself. All this defiance, all this fighting, will be wasted. Know this, and despair!"_

* * *

_**Prologue: Premonition**_

* * *

"Hold it, _half_-man!"

A hand jabbed into the boy's chest, and he clenched his teeth as the muscular arm of Mido held him back.

"Let me through, Mido!" the blond boy growled, and slapped the bullying leader's hand away. Mido grinned beneath his messy mop of orange hair, and crossed his arms.

"Mmmm . . . nah," the burly boy answered, shaking his head. "I don't think I will. I'm the boss, and I don't listen to half-people."

At this, the blond boy took a step back, and then suddenly sprang forward, smashing into the grinning Mido with his shoulder leading. The shocked tribe leader was bowled over, and both boys rolled along the ground in a wild mix of flailing arms, limbs, boots, and green clothing.

"I'll show you half-person!" shouted the blond boy as he rolled over on top of Mido and pinned him to the grassy dirt. "I've always been stronger than you, so-"

A shimmering pink ball of light flew out of nowhere and crashed into the blond boy's forehead, rocking his head backward, and Mido surged forward, slamming both hands into the blond's chest. He was launched up and backward, and the tribe leader wasted no time taking advantage of the situation, leaping on his opponent and pinning him in turn.

"And _that's_ why you're a half-man!" he shouted triumphantly, putting a foot on the blond's chest and leering down at him.

"Coward," growled the other boy, glaring up at the tribe leader. "Using your fairy when-"

"You don't have one, so you don't understand!" Mido shot back. Above him, the shining pink orb of light peeked around his pointed green cap, a set of gossamer wings rising out of one end, the only visible sign as to what direction the fairy was facing.

"A fairy is as much a part of a _real_ Kokiri as an arm or a leg," Mido continued, speaking slowly, as if to a small child. The condescending tone and repeated mantra only served to further enrage the blond beneath the bullying leader. "Since you don't have a fairy, that makes you not a real Kokiri. You're half a person."

With that, Mido stepped off the blond and laughed, before turning and walking back across the meadow toward his treehouse.

"_Fairyless_!" he called over his shoulder as he strode off, laughing all the while. The blond boy glared at his back as he disappeared, and started to push himself up off the ground when another figure stepped over him. Unlike Mido, however, the smile on her face was friendly and genuine, and she extended a hand toward him.

"Mido being a big Stalfos-butt again, Link?" she asked him, and he grunted, taking her offered hand. As the boy stood, he brushed himself off.

"Thanks, Saria," he offered, and she nodded, her shoulder-length green hair bouncing. Like the other forest children, she was the same height as Link and Mido, and clad in loose green clothes and boots, matching the vibrant colors of the Kokiri Forest. Unlike Link, however, she was followed by a glittering orb with light, pale wings, her own guardian fairy, Eitel.

Link glanced back at the departing Mido, and with a tight smile, he reached for one of the pouches on his belt. From it he drew something he'd just recently crafted from a sturdy oak tree and some dried, elastic sap: a slingshot. He raised the fork-shaped stick to his eyes and set a rock into the band, taking aim at Mido's head.

"Hey!" Saria objected, reaching across and slapping his left hand down. He frowned at her, and she put her hands on her hips. "If you whack Mido in the head like that, it'll only make things worse between you two!" Link hesitated before lowering his slingshot, unhappy at his inability to get some revenge on the bullying Kokiri boss.

"Saria, you don't get it," Link grunted, walking toward a nearby tree stump at the edge of the forest meadow. The green-haired Kokiri followed her friend and sat down beside him on the stump. Above them, the shimmering pink globe of Eitel followed, and as Link stttled down, he looked directly up at her.

"You have a fairy, just like Mido and just like _everyone_ else," he explained. "Except for me. No one picks on you just because you don't have a guardian. Mido . . . He just makes me so angry at how petty he is! He thinks that since I don't have a fairy that I'm somehow not a person . . . ." Link leaned back and peered up at the darkening evening sky overhead, and Saria did the same.

"You know," she said after a few moments. "Mido is just a stupid bully. You really should forget about him. I mean, you've still got plenty of friends, and I know that _I _don't care if you have a fairy or not, and neither do the rest of the Kokiri. Fairy or not, you're one of _us_."

Link was silent for a a short while, and then looked to Saria, her green eyes curious and waiting for a response. After a moment, he chuckled and a smile returned to his face.

"Thanks, Saria," he said once more, and she nodded, glad to have made her friend feel better. They both continued peering at the darkening sky above, and after a few minutes, Saria reached into one of her woven belt pouches and pulled out an oblong object, carved from smooth, polished wood. A series of carefully placed holes lined the top of the musical instrument, and Saria raised the object's mouthpiece to her lips and quietly began to play the flute-like device.

The light tones and notes that emerged from Saria's ocarina drifted through the air, and Link closed his eyes, letting the sounds flow through his pointed ears. His fingers began to quietly drum against the tree stump as she played, in time with the melody she evoked, a quick, light-hearted song that told of the dance and play of the forest, of the carefree lifestyle of the Kokiri people who dwelled in the forest of the same name.

She had always been their best musician, and her songs seemed to embody the very spirit of the woods and the Kokiri people themselves, and to listen to her play was to listen to the forest itself sing. The melody she was playing now was one that could be endlessly looped over and over, a simple but flowing stream of soft notes that weaved through the air like the clouds of fireflies and forest spirits that were playing and dancing amidst the trees. There was a certain inflection to the song that only she seemed to understand, and she was very protective of the secret.

A few minutes later, Saria began to slow her song, before finally ending it. Link let out a small, almost disappointed sigh, and opened his eyes, looking back up to the sky. The sun had finally fallen, and the black night stretched above the forest, dotted with the vast, endless array of stars.

As he peered up at the twilight sky, Link's thoughts began to wander. He had lived in the forest for as long as he could remember, going from day to day with his friends, living for each day without worry or care beyond Mido's incessant teasing and bullying. In the Kokiri Forest, the passage of time was almost meaningless. But every time he turned his eyes toward the sky, he felt something else, a longing sensation in his spirit, as if an invisible hand was quietly but insistently drawing him up and away, to look further and explore farther.

"Saria," he asked in the silence after her song had ended, "what's beyond the forest?" She was silent for a moment, considering his words, and what they meant.

"I don't know," she replied after a while, sharing the vista above with her friend. "I know the Great Deku Tree has told me about this place called Hyrule, and stories about things called 'cities' and 'castles', but I have no idea what those are."

"I'd like to see them sometime," Link whispered, softly. He raised a hand up toward the sky, and the stars. "Maybe go and see what's outside the woods."

"Kokiri can't leave the forest, Link," Saria reminded him. If a Kokiri set foot outside the forest, they would wither and die.

"Yeah, but . . . ." Link lowered his hand and leaned back with his head, looking toward the tree boughs directly above them. His voice seemed quietly defiant, as if he _knew_ something that simple wouldn't stop him. "I'd still like to see it all, someday."

Saria remained silent, instead simply looking to her friend and smiling all the while. Link was different from other Kokiri, and not just in that he didn't have a fairy. He'd always felt a cooped up even inside the expansive woods, always exploring and searching, looking in every nook and cranny and poking his head in every cave or under every root. He was never satisfied with just what he saw, and unlike the other Kokiri, he had always wondered what lay outside the edge of the forest, beyond the Deku Tree's realm.

She wondered if he would ever actually follow up on what he had just said. Leave the Kokiri, the forest, to explore the outside world, where Kokiri were forbidden to go?

Leave _her_?

* * *

_**Author's Notes: **_I was digging through my stack of old N64 games and came across O_carina of Time._ Memories of things like the battle with Ganon, the Temple of Time, dancing around Stalfos on a three-hearts-and-no-shield run, dodging Gerudo senties, hunting down every last Piece of Heart and Gold Skulltula, and popping Big Poes on Epona's back with mad ride-by skillz . . . .

Well, _Ocarina_ was one of _those_ games, if you know what I mean. It had an epic story, one of adventure and heroism, of swords and sorcery, of shields and flashing steel and horses and elves and magic and everything an epic story needs. And as I thought about it more and more, there came that nagging feeling in the back of my mind, the nagging feeling that drove me to write _Gunblade_ years ago: the feeling that this game deserved to be told in a greater scope than a mere game, to be put into _words._ So, I hammered out a couple of chapters, and realized that this thing in my head wasn't going away; I really was getting that same feeling I got when I wrote _Gunblade_. That feeling of "Hey, this thing? Yeah, you need to write it. And you're not going to stop thinking about writing it until you get done."

For the uninitiated, this story is a somewhat different take on the original game. I will be using most of the material from the game itself, though I am not going to be strictly adhering to the structures of the dungeons and the precise plot progression that was int he game - mostly because the game's structure works fine _as a game,_

If you're a new arrival to this story, you may have noted it hasn't been updated recently. That's my own fault, mind you, and one I am intending to rectify. I am currently (as of January 1st, 2011) going back through the story and doing some clean-up and editing of what I've written. One always has room to improve.

Until first chapter . . . .


	2. Chapter I: Navi

_Beneath him, he felt movement. His body went up and down in time to the rhythm, her hooves clattering against the solid earth beneath her feet as she carried him over the grasslands. He swept his eyes left and right, taking in rolling hills stretching out as far as the eye could see in all directions. It was a vastness that he had never partaken of before, yet it felt intimately familiar. The wide, darkened gray sky spread above him, slowly lightening as dawn began to bless the awakening world._

_The creature beneath him continued to gallop, the magnificent rust-colored horse dashing across the open plains. It wore no reigns, instead guided by one of his hands on the back of her neck and the pressure of his knees._

_As she ran, he felt weight on his back, and could sense the bouncing of a blade in its scabbard, slung over his back, and the faintest motion of the secured, heavy metal shield atop that sheath. At his hip, there was a small blade the size of a dagger in his hands, and other items were slung across his back or on his belt: an unstrung bow, a pouch of small explosives, an elegant boomerang of wood and metal, a quiver of arrows . . . ._

_He guided his steed east, toward the rising sun, and the ascending light poked above the distant horizon, directly into his eyes, encompassing all with its brilliant rays . . . ._

_Then, darkness. In an instant, the light was stolen._

_In its stead, there was only a cold wind and the beating of thick, heavy rain washing over his body and soaking his clothes. He squinted, trying to move through the darkness. Thunder rumbled overhead, and the pounding rain and the shuddering power of the storm drowned out all other noise. The mighty steed was gone, and his simple leather boots were all that stood between his tiny feet and the muddy soil. The strong, muscled arms of an adult were replaced by the small, short arms of a child, and the solid, comforting weight of his blade and shield had vanished, leaving only the tiniest of daggers in his hand. There was no bow, no bombs, no boomerang . . . Nothing but his clothes, and his dawning fear._

_He pressed forward through the storm, and suddenly, a gleaming light broke through the shadows, resolving itself into a pair of torches that stubbornly refused to surrender to the downpour. Behind the torches stretched a vast wall, of solid white stone, which loomed as far as he could see in both directions. A flash of light and a bolt of lightning revealed a vast drawbridge in the center of the wall._

_There was a crack of thunder, and over the resounding roar he could hear the rattle of chains as they started to move, and in the minimal torchlight the drawbridge began to descend. He stepped back, the clanking of the descending bridge echoing through the downpour. Moments passed, the bridge continuing to lower, and then it finally crashed to the dirt with an impact that rivaled the roar of the thunder above._

_He stood there, hesitant, not knowing what would emerge from that drawbridge, until a figure of pure white appeared. It dashed forward, and within moments he could see that it was a grand white destrier, the horse galloping at full speed. A cloaked and hooded rider sat on the back of the horse, urging it on, and before the rider was another figure. He watched intently as the horse rode past, and felt within his gut that he had to see the riders, that they were more important than anything in the world._

_He caught a glimpse of a young girl as she rose past, of blonde hair and frightened blue eyes. She looked down toward him, and he could see the recognition in her eyes as she spotted the little boy peering up at her._

_Then she was gone, the white horse carrying her off into the thunderstorm._

_Over the roar of the descending rain, he heard a snort, somehow deeper and louder than it should have been. He spun and was confronted with a titanic mass of shadow - a black horse covered in dark armor looming over him. Atop the steed sat a figure in equally dark gear, leather and iron heaped upon his massive frame and long, blood red hair descending from his scalp._

_Yellow eyes, baleful and lacking in anything but contempt and raw desire, turned down toward him, and one of the figure's hands rose, shadow gathering around it._

_Terror, more than anything he'd felt in his life, gripped the small boy as he stared up at the dark man and his evil eyes, and the gathering shadow leapt at him, engulfing his body._

* * *

_**Chapter I: Navi**_

* * *

"_**Navi . . . ."**_

The voice was ancient, filled with the vibrating power of wisdom beyond mortal memory. The voice resounded through the forest, carried along through the roots and between the branches of the tall forest trees, picked up and whisked along by the wind, and reached the one it was addressed to with urgent clarity.

The tiny sprite named Navi was dancing between the boughs, reveling in life just like every other creature in the Kokiri Forest, when the summons of the Great Deku Tree reached her. She stopped in mid-flight and wheeled on his urgent call, as all of the children of the forest would. Her tiny wings pumped as she flew through the woods, twisting between branches and trunks, zeroing in on his call. She arrived in moments, with only the speed one of her kind could manage.

"Great Deku Tree?' she answered as she flew into his clearing, sensing the urgency in his voice. The massive Tree dominated the clearing, rising up to the height a hundred Kokiri, like a tremendous wooden pillar supporting the entire forest over his trunk. His branches stretched off into the trees surrounding the clearing, melding with them and providing a solid green and brown canopy above the place he resided.

"**Thou hast wasted no time, as always, dear Navi," **the Deku Tree spoke, his words resounding across the clearing. He did not speak audibly, but his will was carried through the forest that he had protected since time immemorial, and was sent into the minds and souls of those he chose to speak with.

"I felt . . . When you called me, I could feel something was wrong," the sprite replied, drifting closer to the Deku Tree's front, where the bark was shaped into what resembled the wizened expression of an ancient man.

"**Thine instincts are correct, Navi,"** he responded. **"I require thine aid, for this is a task I cannot entrust to any fairy but thou."**

"What do you need from me?" she asked.

"**Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil descending upon this realm . . . Malevolent forces are even now mustering to attack our land of Hyrule, to bring it under their vile sway . . . .**

"**For so long, the Kokiri Forest has stood as a barrier, to defend against the encroaching darkness, to deter outsiders, and maintain the order of the world. But before this tremendous evil, my strength is as nothing . . . .**

"**It is time for the boy without a fairy to begin his journey . . . The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth . . . ."**

The tree remained silent for a moment, and Navi could feel a wave of empathic pain and torment, and she shuddered at the pain of the guardian spirit.

"**Navi!"** the Great Deku Tree suddenly entreated. **"Go now, and find our young friend! Lead him to the treasure of the Kokiri, and then guide him to me. **

**"I . . . I do not have much time left. Hurry! Fly, Navi, fly! The fate of the forest . . . Nay, the _world_, may depend on thee!"**

* * *

"_Link?"_

_His heart pumped, and he was running, recoiling from the enemy before him. The yellow-eyed monster laughed, his hand raised and evil power gathering there. Then came a flash, and a searing pulse of bright light -_

"_Wake up, Link!"_

His eyes opened, his heart still pumping, and he felt the comforting, familiar heat of his woven blanket, and the softness of his leaf-stuffed bed. As the seconds passed, his heart began to slow, and he realized that it was just another dream, just like the last few nightmares he'd had over the last few days. He began to yawn, his eyes closing as he did so, and rolled over in his bed.

"Come on! Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?" the voice growled quietly somewhere above him. it was tiny and high-pitched, sounding like little bells. He looked up, noting that it was dawn, judging by the light in his treehouse, and then his eyes fixed on a glittering blue orb hovering over his bed, gossamer wings poking out of either side of the sprite's globe of azure illumination.

"Mghaa?" Link moaned, sitting up, surprised to see a fairy inside his house. Forest sprites typically stayed out in the open air, and didn't bother Kokiri inside their homes. What was this one doing here?

"About time," he heard the sprite mutter, and he guessed from the soft, high-pitched tone that the fairy was female. Link shook his head, clearing away the mental sluggishness associated with waking up so suddenly.

"My name is Navi," the fairy stated, drifting directly in front of his face, forcing his eyes to focus on her. He could _almost_ make out the miniscule physical form of the sprite within the brilliant globe of blue light. "The Great Deku Tree chose me to be your guardian."

Link was silent for a second, his mind trying to fathom just what the fairy had told him. His blue eyes blurred for a moment, and then refocused on the equally blue fairy. Then, he shot to his feet, shock cutting across his features as he fully understood what Navi had meant.

"Are you . . . _serious_?" he exclaimed, staring at the sprite, his heart thumping wildly once again. Navi bobbed, her equivalent of a nod, and Link burst out laughing with joy.

"A fairy! Yes!" He would have hugged Navi, but the fairy was far too tiny for that, so he instead quickly started grabbing his clothes.

"A real fairy! Finally! I . . ." he slowed as he put on his long, floppy green Kokiri hat, and looked back to Navi. "I've never had a guardian fairy before. Everyone else had one, but me . . . ."

"The Deku Tree chose me for you," Navi answered circling around him. "And he wants to talk with you, personally. But before that, he wanted me to help you get something."

"Anything he wants," replied the overjoyed Link as he put on his belt and boots. In his excited haste, the Kokiri had accidentally put the boots on the wrong feet, and he grunted as he switched them.

"The Kokiri Sword," she replied immediately, and Link paused. The Sword was a rarity in the forest, a tool forged of metal, and enchanted with the magic of the forest. It was a treasure passed down among the Kokiri of the woods, and only to be drawn upon in dangerous times. That the Deku Tree wanted him to find and take the blade wasn't a good sign . . . any more than the recurring dreams about the figure atop the black horse . . . .

"That's in the Sacred Forest Meadow in the Lost Woods," Link murmured with a frown, and he crossed the interior of his treehouse, a single-room home made from the hollowed-out interior of an old tree. He hopped over the low table in the center and rummaged through a small cabinet on the opposite wall, before emerging with a handful of brown nuts and some dried fruits. He debated bringing the Deku nuts for a moment, but the fact that the Deku Tree was asking him to get the Kokiri Sword convinced him to bring them along. They might prove useful. He also grabbed his little slingshot, and put all of the gear into a hefty belt pouch, before nodding to Navi.

"Okay, if the Great Deku Tree needs the Sword, I'll get it. And with you helping me out, this should be easy!" The sprite bobbed again, and Link ran for the door out of his house, throwing aside the woven curtain over the door and standing on the balcony outside his home. Stretching out before and to either side of his home was the village that he and his fellow Kokiri dwelt in.

Hollowed out trees and broken tree stumps had been fashioned into the homes of dozens of Kokiri, who wandered and played amongst the trees. The vibrant forest closed in around the clearing that was used for the Kokiri's home, and the morning sun cast its light upon the village as Link dropped off the balcony and to the grass below, not bothering with the ladder. The babbling of a small brook that cut through the meadow filled the air as the excited boy tumbled forward from his rough landing and sprang to his feet. Tiny forest spirits, seeming as motes of twirling and flying light, swirled around him as he rose and started running across the village.

"Hey!" the blond Kokiri shouted to a group of his friends, who were talking near the stream. He dashed toward them, waving his hands, and the group turned toward the excited Link. "Look, guys! Notice anything different?"

The knot of forest children stared at him for several moments, not comprehending, and then one of the girls spotted the blue light chasing after Link, hovering over his head.

"A fairy!" she squealed. "A fairy finally found Link!" Excited cheers filled the air as the assortment of green-clad boys and girls mobbed Link from all directions, just as happy as he was to finally be truly one of them. Link, for his part, only reveled in their attention for a moment, before realizing something even more important than telling his friends about Navi.

"I have to tell Saria!" he exclaimed, and broke free from the group. "I'll see you guys later!"

Link hurried through the village, pausing only to wave and yell the good news to anyone he came across. Word spread quickly in the village, and as he cut through the assortment of broken and hollowed trees toward Saria's home, the startling news preceded him like a scent carried on the wind.

Link had just rounded a home near Saria's dwelling when she came rushing out herself, and almost crashed headlong into Link. Both Kokiri managed to pull themselves up short, and instead turned the painful collision into a quick and joyous hug.

"I told you, Link!" she shouted, laughing. The green-haired girl broke the hug, and watched as Navi danced over head, floating up next to Saria's own guardian Eitel, and talking quietly. "A fairy _did_ come to you!"

"Yeah, I know," he replied an open-mouthed smile on his face as he looked up at Navi. "This is incredible! I can't wait to show Mido."

"Oh, he's not going to be happy at all," Saria laughed, and looked up at the pair of sprites. "What's her name?"

"Navi," he replied, and then blinked, surprised that she could tell the difference between male and female fairies.

"Everyone in the village is talking about it," she added, looking back toward him. "Mido is going to be _so_ angry! And you should probably go and thank the Great Deku Tree for sending her to you, too."

"Yeah, I'm going to speak with him soon," he replied, and glanced toward the south end of the village, where a twisting path led into the forest, to the Deku Tree's own meadow. He frowned, remembering Navi's words, and then patted Saria on the shoulder.

"I have to go. The Deku Tree asked me to do something important for him before I go meet him. Right, Navi?" The azure fairy bobbed quickly, and Saria nodded.

"Okay, Link," she said, and hugged him again. "This is great news! You're finally one of us!"

With that, Link departed, cutting back across the forest village to the eastern side of the wide clearing. Other Kokiri waved and cheered at the long-overdue news, but Link didn't have time to talk, and instead simply waved back. He didn't see Mido, unfortunately, because that would have made him pause to rub it in the Kokiri boss' face. He made it across the village without pausing and plunged into the eastern side of the forest. Within moments he was surrounded on all sides by towering trees and the verdant shade of a thick, healthy forest.

He continued running for a long time, and as the minutes passed and Link wound his way down the barely-visible forest trails, the woods became darker, and a light mist began to form in the air, which defined the nebulous boundary between the safer parts of the forest and the Lost Woods. For one who had not lived in the forest their whole lives, plunging this deep into the woods would be dangerous. There were few means to navigate the ancient paths and massive brown and gray columns that held aloft the green ceiling, and the magic of the woods caused the unaccustomed to become confused and disoriented. Many outside visitors to the forest had become lost forever amidst its mystical splendor, to never be seen again as they wandered, enraptured, amongst the boughs.

But Link had explored every inch of this forest, and he knew the Lost Woods better than almost any other Kokiri. Telltale signs - a bit of nicked bark here, a certain arrangement of roots there, a tree stump covered in moss in a particular pattern - told him he was on the right path. His familiarity allowed him to navigate the irregular patterns of fallen logs, stumps, tangled roots, and irregular dips with ease. He hurried through the forest with as much urgency as he could muster, and before the sun had risen a quarter of the way to its apex, his tiny legs brought him deep within the Lost Woods, where the power of the nature spirits was at its peak. Sunlight streamed down through a clearing in the middle of the Lost Woods, a place known as the Sacred Forest Meadow. He slowed to a halt, panting quietly at the exertion, and peered around the Meadow.

The Meadow was not very large or wide, but it was drenched in the power of the woods, the mist swirling and the myriad lights of a thousand spirits and sprites dancing through the air. Link could feel it weighing down on him, permeating his lungs as he breathed in, and slowly walked across the meadow, his feet parting the grass that covered the clearing.

At the far end of the clearing was a huge stone building, overgrown with vines, bushes, and trees. Vegetation hung close around the dark, yawning entrance. Though the building was ancient, the plants did not seem to be wearing upon the structure so much as a part of the shaped rock. It was as much a part of the Lost Woods as any tree, and he had no idea when it had been built, or who had done so. Link had never ventured inside, even his instinctive curiosity warning him to leave the temple be. It was one of the foci of power within the Lost Woods, the true dwelling of the forest spirits, and the Great Deku Tree had spoken of it being as ancient as he.

He had also known to avoid the object in the center of the clearing, just before the olden temple. The Deku Tree had spoken of stories in which swords had been driven into stone, but in this case, the blade had been driven into a primeval tree stump. Small and leaf-shaped, the blade was the size of a short sword in the hands of a Kokiri, forged of shining silvery metal. Its hilt and handle were made of carefully carved wood, and in the middle of the hilt was an embedded ruby, which seemed to have grown out of the wood like a knot on a tree branch. There were no signs of the passage of time on the blade, either rust or wood-rot.

Link slowly approached the Kokiri Sword, the deadly little weapon that the Kokiri had only taken in times of dire need. He hesitated, not immediately willing to draw the sword, for he knew the implications of being sent to retrieve it. From the stories he'd been told, the Great Deku tree rarely sent one forth to take it, and had asked _him_ of all people, the one Kokiri who had never had a fairy before today, to do so. What did that mean for the forest . . . For _him?_

"Are you sure about this, Navi?" he asked slowly, hands opening and closing with anxiety as he peered at the elegant weapon.

"The Deku Tree said it had to be _you_," she replied, insistent. "'The boy without a fairy,' he had said. I can . . . _sense_ what he fears, lurking in these woods. Something is very _wrong_ with the forest."

With that he nodded, taking a long a breath, and extended both hands toward the Kokiri Sword.

"_Awooooooooo!"_

Both fairy and Kokiri whirled in time to see a massive gray-furred form burst through the trees at one end of the Meadow, glittering yellow eyes burning with malevolent intent. Slathering fangs filled a heavy jaw, pointed ears were canted forward with a hunter's interest, and heavy claws tipped its paw-like hands. The humanoid, canine-like monster darted across the clearing directly at the pair, forest sprites scattering in its path.

"Wolfos!" Navi and Link shouted at once, and the Kokiri's hand dropped to his belt pouch. The beast charged straight at him, and the Kokiri raised an arm to shield his eyes while flinging a Deku nut at the ground. It slammed into the ground and shattered, the magical seed releasing a blinding flash of light. The Wolfos was a savage beast, but it was not stupid; one of its paws rose in front of its face, shielding its own eyes from the detonation, and then leapt at its prey with a howl of vicious hunger.

The flash had slowed the beast for a heartbeat, however, and Link dove aside. The Wolfos crashed into the tree stump holding the Kokiri Sword the ground shuddering with the impact and a grunt of surprised pain. The beast recoiled, shaking its head, before whirling on the boy.

"What is a Wolfos doing _here?"_ he hissed, grabbing another Deku nut. They were feral and dark predators, and were occasionally sighted within the woods, but this deep within the Kokiri Forest was directly protected by the Great Deku Tree. The idea they would even be able to come into the Lost Woods, let alone the Sacred Forest Meadow _itself_, was almost unthinkable - at least until this monster had appeared.

That entire thought went through his mind in a single instant, in the time it took the Wolfos' amber eyes to close on him. The beast rushed at him again, claws lashing out as it sprang forward. Link dove forward, rolling underneath the beast, its claws ripping at the back of his shirt. He spun as he came to his feet and smashed a second Deku nut against the ground right as the Wolfos whirled back toward him. It shattered, another flash of blinding brilliance struck the beast's eyes. The monster howled in pain as it rolled away, shaking its head in confusion.

"The Sword, Link!" Navi shouted, and he grunted in agreement, dashing for the embedded Kokiri Sword. His hands closed over the wood, the grains scratching against his skin, and he felt a tingle shiver up his spine. With a shout, he yanked the blade up, expecting it to be stuck and difficult to remove. Instead, it leapt free, with a surge of magic filling the air, and Link overbalanced and tumbled to his back, air escaping his lungs. He scrambled to his feet, carefully keeping the weapon away from his body, and whirled on the stunned Wolfos, the magical blade of the forest gripped tightly in his dominant left hand.

The werewolf shook its head, finally recovering its senses, and faced its prey once more. The amber eyes narrowed at the drawn blade, and Link could see a calculating intelligence assessing the changing situation. That, too, threw off the Kokiri; the Wolfos had only the most feral of cunning, and the thoughtful expression on its face was like nothing he had ever seen before.

The creature then leapt again, its howl filling Link's ears as he readied the unfamiliar blade. Though he had often had mock swordfights with fellow Kokiri using sticks, he had never used an actual metal blade before. In his hands it felt light, and to his racing mind it seemed like a toy before the huge, charging Wolfos.

The creature crossed the meadow in an instant, and Link swallowed his fear, letting out a sharp shout and swinging the blade across in a clumsy lateral slash at the Wolfos' chest. It leapt back, snarling as it evaded the striking blade, and dove forward again behind the sword, swinging a claw-tipped paw at the Kokiri. At that same instant, Navi dove down in front of the werewolf's face, and her azure glow intensified for an instant as she bobbed down before its head. The Wolfos, dazzled by the sudden attack, was caught off guard when the Kokiri Sword sliced into its extended paw and severed two fingers.

It howled and sprang away a dozen paces in an instant, then eyed the Kokiri with anger and hate as it cradled its injured paw. Instead of blood, which Link expected, he saw a dark purple and black flame bursting from the severed fingers, and the lopped digits on the grass seemed to collapse into dust. That fact made Link's heart begin to hammer out even faster as he put the pieces together: a Wolfos that thought intelligently, that could come this deep in the forbidden forest, and had shadowy fire instead of blood.

He understood now why the Great Deku Tree had called on the Kokiri Sword. Something terribly dark and evil was lurking in these woods now.

Link bit back the anxiety, his fingers tightening around the handle of the Kokiri Sword, and set his feet. Navi whirled around and took up a position beside him, ready to strike down and blind or distract. The Wolfos paused, cocked its head to the side as if it was hearing something, and then snarled once more. There was a finality to its tone, and Link thought he saw a deadly intensity in its calculating gaze.

An instant later, it sprang, howling as loudly as it could, the screeching bay clawing at the Kokiri's ears and making him flinch in pain. It closed in, and both of its arms rose, claws extended, to bury the boy where he stood.

They snapped down, burying into the soft dirt, as Link sprang backward. The Kokiri's boots touched the grass, and he then leaped forward, left hand coming forward in a fierce but clumsy thrust at the beast. The Wolfos recoiled, but the blade plunged into its left arm, nearly severing it. Link tore the weapon free, black fire raging from the injury, and the Wolfos cried out in agony. Its other arm slashed across as the Kokiri's face, but he ducked and spun beneath it, memories of his mock-fights with other Kokiri coming back to him. He rose, the blade stabbing upward, and the Sword's tip plunged into the werewolf's chest. The beast fell backward, howling in shock, pain, and fury, the blade tearing free.

Then the Wolfos hurtled forward one final time, jaws opening wide in a desperate effort to tear into the Kokiri's throat.

The Kokiri Sword dove into its maw instead, and burst out the back of the monster's head.

The Wolfos came to a halt as the blade did its work, and its yellow eyes stared at Link in disbelief as black fire began to burn up and down its body. The creature fell backward, and Link recoiled from the evil energy that escaped the monster's body as it was consumed by the flames, pulling the Sword free. The monster collapsed into dust and ash at his feet, which was then swept away by a burst of wind moving through the Sacred Forest Meadow, as if the Lost Woods was sweeping aside the evil that had come within is bounds.

All went silent once again in the Meadow, and Link's body shook. He slowly exhaled, not realizing he'd been holding his breath, and lowered the blade.

He'd come _that_ close to death.

"Are you okay?" Navi asked him, and he nodded, breathing finally becoming steady again. Link glanced back down to the blade, and then around the Scared Forest Meadow, and shook his head.

"Let's get back to the village," he murmured, and started out of the Meadow. The Great Deku Tree would be able to tell him why so much was wrong with the forest lately.

* * *

**_Author's Note:_** You may have noted that several of the items Link carries have already been provided for him, while certain others have not. I was debating over how to give Link the Kokiri Sword, and I knew the method presented in-game was not quite satisfactory. So, I came up with the whole Sacred Forest Meadow thing to handle it. Unfortunately, this does nothing to help Link find a shield, or even a scabbard for his blade, but I _do_ have that planned out. I'm currently working out what dungeon items Link should be getting over the course of this story, and where and when he gets them (as well as hammering out something relating to how I'm going to get these dungeons to work in a narrative and still keep them interesting) Suffice it to say, I've got ideas.

Speaking of swords, I tried making Link a bit clumsy with the sword in this opening chapter, but not a complete klutz. I will be developing his sword skills and specific fighting style as the story progresses, and there may be a few surprises down the line as to what he can really do with the blades he gets his hands on. You might have spotted at least one possibility in this chapter already...

As a near irrelevant side note, I wrote the Wolfos battle to _Heroism_ off the _Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun_ soundtrack. ...why am I using ambient electronic music from a sci-fi strategy game to write fights in classical fantasy fanfiction? I have no clue. Maybe I'm just nuts.

Until next chapter . . . .


	3. Chapter II: The Curse

_**Chapter II: The Curse**_

"Come on, come on . . . ." Mido grinned, a long, heavy stick in his hand. The makeshift club was held at the ready, bobbing slightly as he crouched, prepared to swing. A hiss came from in front of him as he spoke, and the club twitched in anticipation.

The creature in front of him snarled, its main bulb bobbing and weaving as the sharpened edges of its "mouth" opened and closed. The creature, a Deku Baba, was a twisted version of the thorny, high-stalked plants that were common in the forest. However, those normal plants were not dangerous unless one touched the venomous thorns on their stalks; these Deku Babas, however, were far more violent, and had a taste for meat.

The Baba stopped moving on its flexible stalk, and suddenly shot forward. Mido hopped back and to his right, the bulb snapping closed where he had stood, and he brought his club down hard on top of the extended stalk. The mutant plant didn't have a chance to recoil, and Mido doubted it had enough brains to realize it should. Its bulb was smashed down into the soil, and Mido hefted his weapon, chuckling to himself as the plant withered.

"And _that's_ how you deal with Deku Babas, the Mido way!" he crowed, and turned, looking back toward the other Kokiri behind him. A half-dozen forest children, themselves carrying sticks and rocks and slingshots of their own, nodded at his demonstration. Mido turned and peered across the forest, looking for any more of the hungry, mutated plants. Deku Babas were not a very common threat, but they'd been appearing in larger numbers lately, and the Great Deku Tree had explained long ago that they were the product of evil will or malevolent spirits intruding on the wood.

That was why Mido had slapped together this impromptu war party of Kokiri "volunteers." The forest children were not warriors, but they were hardy and knew the forest very well, and occasionally had to deal with the odd violent, unnatural creature wandering into the forest. The Deku Tree protected the Kokiri from most of the beasts of the forest, but lately Deku Babas had been popping up around the village, so Mido had grabbed the first group of Kokiri he could find and began roaming the edge of the forest, smashing and bashing every Baba they saw.

By now they had reached the southern edge of the village, near the trail leading to the Great Deku Tree's meadow, and the number of mutant Babas were getting larger, which was worrying Mido, despite his boasting. If anything, the number should have dwindled, with their proximity to the Tree himself.

Mido waved for his patrol to follow him, and they did so. Within moments they had reached the path, and Mido considered following it to the Great Deku tree himself, to ask for some advice on what was going on. He didn't like the idea of having to mobilize the entire village, but if things kept going the way they were, he might have to get everyone together to protect them from . . . well, from whatever it was that was going on in the woods.

After a moment's consideration, Mido started down the trail, and was immediately greeted by a series of hisses. All along the grassy path there sprang clusters of purple-bulbed Deku Babas, every one with twisted, sharpened mouths hungry for meat. Mido grunted, raising his club to his shoulders, and glanced back at his fellow Kokiri, who were also readying their makeshift weapons, but more nervously.

"Fifteen Deku nuts," he said with a smile. "to the one who bags the most critters!"

_That_ banished the apprehension from their faces, and they eagerly moved forward. Mido rushed at the first Deku Baba, and brought his club down on its head with a high-pitched battle cry. A volley of rocks flew forward, bouncing of Baba bulbs, and those Kokiri with clubs and large stones moved ahead, smashing mutant plants with wild battle yells. They were not born fighters, but when motivated the Kokiri could be unpredictable enemies, like a sudden storm sweeping in from the ocean.

Mido's club bashed into another Baba's bulb, and it reeled backward. The Kokiri boss reared back with his weapon, ready to smash it a second and final time, when a silver blur cut through the air, slashing into the plant's stalk. The flexible trunk of the carnivorous plant cracked, and the bulb flew away. Mido blinked, and turned toward the Kokiri who had snatched his Baba from him, and his eyes widened in shock.

"Link!" he growled. "What are you . . . ." The Kokiri boss trailed off as he saw what the grinning blond boy had used to destroy the Baba, and his mouth flubbed out a shocked babble of responses.

"The Kokiri Sword!" he finally managed to say, even as Link wheeled toward another Baba. The plant lunged at him, but the blade hacked across, striking it solidly in the mouth and tearing the top of its bulb off. The plant flailed and danced around in fury, and Link chopped the sword at the base of its stalk, slicing it off cleanly. Another Baba nearby snapped at him, but Link whirled around the creature, the Kokiri Sword flying down at the plant and catching it beneath its bulb. The top of the mutant plant was severed and went flying away.

"How did you get the Kokiri Sword!" Mido demanded, completely ignoring the battle with the twisted forest plants. Link ignored him, instead attacking another Baba. With each swing he seemed to get better with the small but light blade, and every blow tore a Baba apart. The other Kokiri began to slow down their assault, watching the spectacle, and Link finished off the last of the plants and cleared the path to the Great Deku Tree. He turned back toward Mido, standing among the destroyed Babas, and grinned.

"What are you doing with that, half-man!" Mido demanded angrily, stomping up toward the blonde Kokiri, his face turning bright red in anger. "No one touches the Kokiri Sword unless we absolutely need it! The Deku Tree himself said as much! And _you_, of all people, touching that thing! You don't even-"

His tirade was cut off suddenly as an azure globe cut in front of him, interposing itself between Link and Mido. The blonde Kokiri's smile only grew as he gestured to the fairy.

"Mido," he said, pure satisfaction in his voice, "I'd like you to meet Navi, my guardian fairy."

Mido was silent for a long moment, staring at the fairy. While he had heard rumors that Link had finally received one of his own, he had not paid much attention to them, too busy leading his patrol to clear the woods. But here he was, with a glittering blue fey hovering off his shoulder, just like any other Kokiri, and with the treasured Kokiri Sword in hand.

After a moment, Mido's anger began to boil over, and he pointed at the sword itself, knowing he couldn't argue with the blonde boy, considering that he now _was_ a real Kokiri, even by Mido's exacting standards.

"But the sword!" he said. "Who said _you_ could use it? If anyone is supposed to be wielding the Kokiri Sword, it's me, the great Mido!"

"**_He wields the sword of the forest because _I_ hath permitted him to."_**

The knot of Kokiri jumped as the trees vibrated and the wind swirled around them, carrying the Great Deku Tree's words. They looked around quickly, and finally, Mido spoke, his voice now tiny and humbled.

"Great Deku Tree?" he said. "What's going on? Why did you ask him to take the sword?"

"_**You have all sensed the troubled nature of the woods these days. Even as Link claimed the blade he now rightfully wields, he was forced to slay a Wolfos, a far more dangerous creature than what you have been battling. I shall require his assistance for a matter of great import."**_

Those words caused whispers of suprise and a little amazement from the other Kokiri, and even Mido managed a grunt of admiration, mixed in with his frustration.

"I'm coming, Great Deku Tree!" Link called suddenly, and Mido growled, still not understanding why the Deku Tree himself had chosen the boy with no fairy. But he held his words in check. The Tree himself was watching them, and he said nothing as Link hurried off down the trail toward the meadow, disappearing from sight amidst the trees.

"Why _him_?" Mido growled quietly after Link had vanished. "Why do both the Great Deku Tree _and_ Saria like him more than me? This is totally not fair . . . ."

* * *

The Great Deku Tree's meadow was a familiar place for Link. Though the Kokiri revered the Deku Tree himself as their creator and guardian spirit, the ancient tree also served their teacher and mentor, and loved each of the forest children as any human parent would his or her own progeny. Often he would call them into the meadow to tell them stories, particularly in regards to the outside world, where they had never gone before. The Tree would weave tales of great structures of stone, of men in bright armor and astride great beasts of war, of far-off lands of sand and heat, of great and frigid mountains that spewed rock and flame.

Awes ettled over Link as he entered the vast meadow the Great Deku Tree stood within. A full acre and more of space was left open, with thick, vibrant grasses growing up past Link's knees, and at the heart of the open, shaded meadow was the Tree himself. He towered above the blond Kokiri, as tall as a hundred forest children, and the vast base of his trunk and the immense roots covered an area the size of the Kokiri's own village. The width and breadth of his branches and leaves extended out over the entire meadow, even intermingling with the tall trees ringing the clearing, and halfway up his trunk Link could see the bark had grown into what the Tree had described as resembling the shape of a wizened old human.

"Great Deku Tree," Link heard Navi call out as she flew past him, toward the ancient guardian spirit.

"**Oh . . . Navi . . . ."** Link could feel the Great Deku Tree's voice echoing in his mind and reverberating throughout the clearing, and with it he could sense a great feeling of pain and exhaustion. That alone put the Kokiri on edge, and he tightened his fingers around the Kokiri Sword's handle. His eyes darted back and forth across the clearing, suddenly afraid another Wolfos - or worse - would emerge.

"**It is good that thou hast returned so quickly,"** the Tree stated, his pained voice ancient and powerful, yet gentle and warm at the same moment.

"**Link,"** he spoke after a moment, the name long and drawn out, as if the Tree was having a difficult time speaking to him. **"I entreat ye, listen carefully to what I must tell thee now . . . ."** Link slowly nodded, though in the back of his mind he wondered why the Tree would even ask him to listen; the Kokiri had always heeded his words without question. Why would he be wanting him to listen so carefully now?

"**Thy slumber these past moons has been restless, and full of nightmares,"** he continued. **"Thou are haunted by dreams of shadow and darkness, of a figure atop a dark horse, a scion of evil power. Thine dreams are but one result of the darkness and evil that is spreading even now in our realm. Thou hast already seen some of its other effects on the forest."**

"The Wolfos," Link murmured, and nodded. A wave of positive empathy came from the Deku Tree, telling Link that he was correct.

"**That was but one of many such dark creatures that are closing upon us,"** the Great Deku Tree continued. **"As the servants of evil grow in strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes nightmares to those sensitive to it."**

_Sensitive to evil?_ Link thought, confused. He wanted to ask questions, but he knew better than to interrupt the Great Deku Tree, who would tell him what he needed to know when it was time to know.

"**Link, the time has come to test thine courage,"** the Great Deku Tree stated. **"The cause of the darkness and growing evil in this forest is not merely the expanding climate. I hath been cursed."**

Link's eyes widened, and he gasped in shock, echoed by Navi. What had the power to go so far as to harm the Great Deku Tree himself?

"**Thou dost now understand why I hath sent thee to find the Kokiri Sword,"** the Great Deku Tree explained. **"The curse within me resides deep, within my own heart. I ask thee, Link, to find and destroy it with thine wisdom and courage."**

Link was silent, trying to grasp what the Great Deku Tree was asking him. He wanted Link, a simple Kokiri, to break a curse that the Great Deku Tree _himself_ could not overcome? His mind was still trying to come to terms with the idea that the guardian spirit of the forest could even be harmed by outside magic; as far as they knew, there was _nothing_ stronger than the magic of the forest and the Tree.

And how would he break the curse? He was no magician, and wielded no magical power. He knew nothing about curses, and was not very good with the blade he carried now. He hadn't even had his own fairy until today. Link looked up at Navi, and noted that she was bobbing about, almost terrified.

"Navi?" he asked, and she paused, and he could almost imagine her shaking her head within the brilliant illumination.

"I . . . I had no idea. A curse? On you, the Great Deku Tree? This isn't possible, I mean . . . ."

"**The foul curse is indeed most present, Navi,"** the Tree replied to her unspoken questions. **"And if thou dost not assist Link in breaking it, the forest may suffer terribly." **The Tree paused, and Link could feel its next question directed at him.

"**Link, dost thou have the courage to break this curse upon me?"**

As the Great Deku Tree spoke, the Kokiri could sense a wave of pain rolling off the guardian spirit, and he cringed. Deep down inside, he knew that he couldn't let this dark magic remain at work. Even if the forest was not in danger, even if he didn't have the Kokiri Sword, even without Navi, the boy knew he would choose to try to fight this curse, however he could.

Though he was terrified of the Deku Tree's implications of a power greater than even it, Link swallowed that fear, tightened his grip on his tiny blade, and nodded firmly.

"I will break the curse on you, Great Deku Tree!" he shouted, and was surprised at the power and conviction in his voice. When he spoke, Navi's nervous bobbing stopped, and she turned toward him, regarding the determination in his eyes. After a moment, she turned back toward the Great Deku Tree, her own hesitation and anxiety vanishing.

"You're right, Link," she said. "We have to do everything we can to save him!" At that moment, both fairy and Kokiri could sense a wave of satisfaction, and something else . . . .

Pride?

"**Then enter my heart, brave Link and Navi,"** the Tree spoke, and they could hear what sounded like the creaking of wood, as if the Deku Tree's bark was twisting and bending. At the base of the Tree, the outer layers of bark peeled away to reveal a dark passage that led below his trunk, into the guardian spirit's roots.

Slowly, Link started forward, with Navi behind him. He steadily advanced, putting one foot after another, swallowing his apprehension as he moved closer to the great Tree. A few moments later, he stood at the edge of the Deku Tree's entrance, and peered down into the gloom that doubtless permeated the dark interior of the cursed tree. Navi floated close by, her light dispelling some of the shadows, and with her comforting presence nearby, he stepped inside, Kokiri Sword held tight in his tiny hands.

* * *

She brushed her hands over the smooth, carved wooden flute, and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Eitel asked, floating overhead. Saria shook her head as she looked over the ocarina, and then around her room.

"Everything," Saria remarked, and ran a hand through her verdant hair. "Too much is happening, and all so fast . . . ."

"You mean the forest?" the fairy guardian asked, and Saria paused, before nodding.

"Not just the forest," she replied. "Link, too. You saw Navi. I really don't think that it's a coincidence that the Great Deku Tree sent Navi out to him when so much is going wrong with the woods lately. And then he sent link to go get the Kokiri Sword from the Sacred Forest Meadow." Saria went silent for a minute, and sat down in one of her chairs, looking down at the floor for a few moments.

"I have a bad feeling about this, like something terrible is going to happen to him."

"Link, or the Great Deku Tree?" Eitel asked, and Saria blinked, before looking across her room, out the door.

"Both," she answered truthfully.

* * *

Though the passage leading inside the Great Deku Tree had been created by the spirit himself, it quickly became apparent that he had only opened a doorway into a tunnel made by something else. Navi's light provided the only illumination available to Link, which was barely enough to let him see across the inclined tunnel. It slowly curved and twisted, and all sides of the passage were rough and treacherous, as if gouged out by rapacious claws and ravening teeth.

Something had _dug_ through the Great Deku Tree.

The fact that a creature could have done this set Link further on edge. The Great Deku Tree was a powerful spirit of the forest, with immense magical power within his woods. How had anything like this been able to get close to the Deku Tree in the first place, let alone pierce his bark and delve inside, clawing out this tunnel?

And if something had done this to the Great Deku Tree, how could he, a Kokiri boy with a tiny sword and a fairy he barely knew, defeat it?

Link tried pushing back the fear welling up inside him, and followed the passage down into the ripped and torn wood, until he started seeing strands of white, sticky substance stretching across the tunnel. He frowned as he advanced, and hacked at the first line of spider webbing as he saw it. It snapped apart like broken rubber, and Link's frown deepened.

"Navi, you ever seen spider webbing like this?" he asked, stepping past the strangely stretchy material. Navi mused silently for a moment, her glow dimming as she thought to herself.

"Not like this, no," she answered after a few seconds. Link cut through another line of webbing, and slowed, for the tunnel had widened slightly. "I think I've seen something similar, but . . . ."

"But what?" Link asked, as he moved into the opening chamber, which had been torn out of the soil beneath the Great Deku Tree. It was a dozen feet wider than the tunnel, and the floor angled sharply toward one end, where a large hole had been clawed into the earthen floor.

"Nothing of that size," she replied, hesitantly. "But I have seen webbing like that on infected trees in the woods, being attacked by parasites."

"Think the curse is related?" the Kokiri asked as he moved cautiously toward the webbed-over tunnel. With a swing of his sword, he cut through the stretchy elastic material, and it snapped apart. Several more cuts cleared the tunnel, and Link stood over the opening, looking down into the gloom.

"From what the Deku Tree has said, it certainly might be," she remarked, and he nodded.

"But no normal parasite can get through the Great Deku Tree's wards and magic," he whispered, and then shook his head. "I guess we'll just have to see what's below." He hesitated at the edge of the opening, not sure how far down it was, and glanced toward Navi. He almost asked her to go down and take a look, but he didn't want to put her in danger. Instead, Link peered down into the gloom, and waved her over to his side so her light could help him see. The azure light was not enough to pierce the gloom, however, and so Link started forward, turning around and gripping the edge of the hole as his boots tried to find some purchase. They touched roughly-hewn walls, and he started to descend.

Link managed to go down a couple of steps into the hole when his hand grasped one of the roughly-hewn grooves, and his fingers closed over a mass of splinters. The Kokiri cried out in pain and instinctively retracted his hand, only to realize that doing so would weaken his grip on the wall.

Unfortunately, Link only understood that _after_ he fell off the side of the tunnel wall and plummeted to the ground below.

He bounced once, then twice, as he rolled down the sloping tunnel, each impact blasting the air out of his lungs as he rolled into an inclined passageway and finally came to a stop in a level chamber, damp soil clinging to his clothes. Link was still for a second, his whole body aching, and finally began to push himself up. He checked his belt, and found his sword had been lost as he had fallen, and glanced around, before spotting the blade a dozen and more feet away.

"Link!" Navi called, and he looked up, to see the fairy flying toward him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I cushioned the fall with my spine," he answered, shaking his head. "Where are we?" Link glanced around the chamber as he started toward his sword. As with the tunnels up above, this one seemed to have been roughly clawed out of the earth, and huge roots lined the walls - roots with deep gouges in them. Link paused next to one of the roots and looked it over, before nodding grimly at the marks. Something _had_ been eating on the Great Deku Tree's roots, and now he felt much more vulnerable without his sword.

"Link!" Navi suddenly cried, and he spun toward her and his dropped blade, to find himself staring into a single bulbous eye, fixed directly on him. It belonged to a fat insect-like creature balanced on two clawed legs, with a third appendage hanging lazily over its eye. Small but hungry jaws hung beneath the eye as it regarded the intruding Kokiri, and Link recognized the shape of the mandibles when compared with the savaged tree roots. It was barely half his size, but seemed far stronger than its frame would indicate, and it took a step toward him, in a strange bobbing motion.

Link didn't wait for the small creature to get close. His right hand grabbed at his pouch and pulled out a Deku nut, which he whipped at the insect's eye. The nut exploded, blinding the creature. It released a shrill cry and flopped onto its back as Link dashed around it and went for his sword. His fingers closed around the solid wooden and metal handle, and he whirled on the stunned beast, just in time to catch sight of more movement just beyond the edge of Navi's light.

"How many of these things are there?" Link hissed, pulling out another Deku nut.

"I count four more," Navi said, her light dancing back and forth. Link grimaced as he glanced at the stunned creature, and didn't wait for it to recover. The Kokiri Sword stabbed down into its body as it lay stunned, and cut deep. Ichors burst from the wound, followed an instant later by the familiar black and purple fire that he had seen from the Wolfos in the Sacred Forest Meadow. Any remaining questions as to whether these things were connected to the Deku Tree's curse vanished as he saw the black flames, and he turned to face the still-living monsters. The first burned down to powdery ash behind him.

Bobbing movement entered Navi's sphere of light, and Link could clearly see the other creatures closing in. He readied his sword and set his feet.

"Navi, watch my back!" the Kokiri called, as the nearest creature leapt at him. The Kokiri Sword shot up in a thrust, intercepting the little monster as it flew through the air. The blade stabbed through the monster's jaws and impaled the creature, causing black fire to burst from both ends. Link shook the weapon in an effort to get the stubborn creature off, and he spotted more movement all around him

"Link, your left!" Navi shouted, and the Kokiri spun, the second dead monster finally falling off of his blade and burning away. Another of the bobbing creatures was closing in, and Link quickly swung his blade down in an arcing cut that slashed straight through the monster's eye and most of its body. It fell backward, shadowy flame gushing from the wound, and the Kokiri heard the others coming up on his right flank. Even as they leapt at him, Link dove aside, the beasts' jaws missing him by inches as they pounced. He rolled over the damp dirt and onto his feet, then spun around to face his enemies. The survivors waddled after him, mandibles opening and closing with mindless, hungry intensity.

A flashing Deku nut stopped them in their tracks, and the Kokiri Sword stabbed once, and then a second time, putting the stunned insects down before they realized what had happened.

The pounding in Link's chest began to subside, and he only just then realized how ferociously his heart had been beating. Link turned around, scanning the rest of the earthen chamber, but found no other parasites waddling across the room, and no hungry eyes staring at him. He and Navi were alone, save for the fading clouds of ash.

"What were those things?" Link asked, to which Navi had no immediate response. After a few moments, the fairy finally did speak.

"Gohma larvae," she whispered, and he saw her gleaming form bob slightly. "But I've never seen them that big before."

"Gohma?" Link asked, and she nodded again.

"A plant-eating parasite," she replied. "But they're tiny. Gohma larvae shouldn't be larger than most ants or beetles . . . . "

"And they don't bleed black flame, either, right?" he added, as he started looking around the room. Navi didn't answer the rhetorical question, and a few minutes later he had found another passage dug out of the earthen chamber, between two large roots. With Navi floating close by, Link started down this new corridor.

After a few dozen feet, the tunnel opened up, the rough-chewed end of the passage spreading outward into a foggy, darkened chamber. Link stepped forward slowly, Kokiri Sword in hand, and peered around the open area, his eyes darting left and right, searching for more of the tiny bobbing larvae and their own dancing eyes. He saw nothing, only darkness and the faint glow of light amidst the mist. He could smell the deep earthen scent of the underground, even greater here than it had been in the previous tunnels and passages. His pointed ears couldn't hear anything beyond the faintest whisper of air and the distant drip of water.

His soft boots touched the damp soil in this room, and his eyes focused on something in front of him, what looked like the source of the faint illumination: a massive tree root, glittering in the dark, as magical as any other part of the guardian spirit it fed. Elsewhere around the earthen chamber were other large roots, some poking through the walls of the room, others stretching from high ceiling to foggy floor.

The Kokiri looked around as he stood in the chamber, his instincts screaming to him that danger was near. He looked to the walls, and saw them roughly dug and clawed; this open chamber, like the tunnel he had walked down, was not natural. The roots bore signs of having been chewed upon, just like much else in the Great Deku Tree, and the marks were like those left by the tiny beasts, but much, much larger . . . .

"Navi, do you see anything?" Link asked quietly, urgently - the fear was starting to grow, and he dropped into a low crouch as he felt something watching him.

"Not in all this gloom," she replied, drifting close to his ear and whispering. Her voice betrayed her own nervousness, her glowing light dimming, as if she was trying to remain relatively unseen. "But I can feel a dark power here . . . the curse, Link. It's very strong in this room!"

If she was right . . . Did that mean that they were about to tackle whatever it was that had been placed upon the Great Deku Tree? And if that happened, would he even be able to fight it? Link slipped forward as silently as he could, eyes remaining wary, and relying on Navi to keep watch too as they delved into the heart of this curse.

_If the Deku Tree didn't think you could break this curse, he wouldn't have sent you to destroy it,_ the boy reminded himself, and Link swallowed, steeling his body for whatever lurked in this chamber. He continued scanning the room, and began creeping around its edges, ears open and listening intently. His fingers gripped his blade more tightly as he moved, his instincts warning him that whatever he was facing, it knew he had come and was waiting for him.

"Link! Above us!" Navi suddenly cried, and the Kokiri spun toward, to see the fairy had turned to the center of the chamber and was looking up at the ceiling. He turned his gaze upward, his heart doubling its pace in an instant, and the Kokiri's blue eyes met a single glowing yellow orb at the pinnacle of the chamber.

The yellow eye glared down at the intruding Kokiri, and the black and green iris focused directly on him, as if burning down into his soul, and beyond the amber orb there was movement. Legs spread outward as a huge body unfolded itself, and suddenly the entire body, legs, armored head, and huge, heavy thorax, hung down from a single appendage. A deep, shuddering scream filled the air, and Link nearly fell to his knees from the volume of the shriek and the sheer terror he felt at the monster.

He _did_ fall to his knees an instant later, as the beast dropped from the ceiling and slammed into the ground, the jaws beneath its single eye opening and closing in hunger.

"A Queen Gohma!" Navi shouted, her voice betraying shock, as Link scrambled back up onto his feet. In the brighter light of the ground level, he could see the huge beast was covered in a thick, gleaming armored carapace, with two large, clawed forelegs and a strange tail-like appendage at its rear. The eye remained fixed on him as it started forward, its legs moving in a confident and easy stride.

"Queen?" Link asked as he readied his sword, wondering how to attack this monster.

"This must be the curse, right here!," Navi said quickly, urgently. "It's a giant Gohma queen!"

"Okay," Link replied, watching the parasite amble forward. "Do you know how to kill it?"

"Stepping on them works," Navi answered after a second. "They're usually smaller than your hand, actually . . . ."

At this point the Gohma queen was only a few body lengths away from Link, and he began to back away. He got a few steps before his back touched an earthen wall, and he cursed weakly. Faced with the advancing monster and no immediate way to fend off the huge, hungry beast, the Kokiri used the only option he had available.

He turned to his right and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. Behind Link, Gohma turned to pursue, and began to speed up, not letting her victim escape.

The Kokiri had made it halfway around the chamber, his mind racing as he tried to figure out a way to defeat this monster. Half of Link just wanted to turn toward the tunnel leading into the cavern and bolt out of there, and the other half almost agreed. He seriously considered doing just that when the queen Gohma appeared in his peripheral vision, rushing in with frightening speed. He barely had time to dig in his heels and come to a stop when the beast surged forward on both front legs, lunging at Link with jaws widening.

Link leapt a step back, just out of reach of the jaws, and his sword came forward, stabbing at the eye. Gohma closed her eye as the Kokiri Sword thrust in, and th blade's edge glanced off the thick carapace that formed the eyelid. The parasite lunged again, and this time her head smashed into Link's chest, lifting him off his feet and hurling him back against one of the roots, the wind blasted out of his lungs on impact. His torso burned from the impact, almost numbed by the blow.

He could feel the floor shake as Gohma closed in, and looked up in time to see one of her clawed forelegs shoot down at his head. The Kokiri rolled to the right, and the leg sliced down into his left arm as he moved, cutting a deep wound. Link cried out in pain and scrambled beneath the leg as it stabbed into the tree root, sticking inside the Deku Tree's own body. He heard the thing grunt as she tried to pulled her leg loose.

Link found himself directly beneath Gohma's body, and he knew to use an opportunity when it was presented. The Kokiri Sword slashed upward, against the monster's underside, and rang against thick carapace as tough as any suit of mail. He snarled and thrust, the tip of the sword seeking any hole it could find within Gohma's armor. Link ran out of time, the wood cracking as the Gohma tore her trapped leg free, and he had to leap away from the parasite. Link burst out from under Gohma and ran, even as the beast turned to face her prey and resume the hunt.

She came to a stop when something cut past in front of her, and had to close her eye against a harsh blue brightness that burned against the comforting shadow of the cavern. Gohma was only dazzled for an instant, the parasite reopening her eye and focusing on Navi, one clawed arm shooting up at the annoying fairy. The azure orb was too agile, however, and Navi had already dodged the predictable attack before it began, dashing back to Link before the leg had barely risen off the floor.

"You have to hit her eye, Link!" the fairy said as she floated beside her partner. "From what I can see, that's the only part of her that isn't armored!" Link stared at Gohma, and though he agreed with Navi's assessment, he wasn't sure if he could stomach another close-quarters duel with the immense parasite.

"But my sword can't break through its eyelid," he said, his mind pumping as he thought of some other way to hurt this thing. Visions of fleeing down the tunnel popped back up into his mind, and he found them appealing, especially against the ambling, hungry monster closing in.

"Then don't use the sword if she can see that coming!" Navi replied quickly. "Isn't there something else you can do, throw a rock or something, maybe? I don't think she'll spot a projectile coming at her fast enough."

"I don't think-" Link said, and then stopped, an idea hitting him even as Gohma closed to within a few body-lengths. He broke and ran quickly, though not in fear this time; in fact, his terror was pushed back in the face of a plan that was rapidly forming in his mind.

"Navi! Quick, find me a rock! Something small!" As he shouted, Link stuck his sword in his belt and pulled out the small slingshot had had packed earlier that day. Navi's blue light broke away and jerked back and forth wildly as she dashed through the fog, and in seconds she had returned, hovering by Link's right hand. He opened his palm, and she dropped a small round pebble in it.

_Perfect,_ the Kokiri thought and he spun toward Gohma. The parasite continued to amble forward, her amber eye fixed directly on Link as she advanced inexorably, in a single straight line. For an expert shot like Link, it was an almost pathetically easy target.

He raised the slingshot and set the pebble to it, and pulled back on the rubber. It stretched taut, and he centered the eye in the middle of the forked stick. Once the target was set, he let fly.

Gohma's roar of agony threatened to make Link's ears bleed and bring the entire chamber down around them. The Kokiri cringed at the scream, and watched Gohma flop onto her back, her eye dancing wildly at the unexpected impact.

"Now!" Navi shouted, and the word galvanized the Kokiri into action. Link bolted forward, pocketing his slingshot and pulling his sword out of his belt. He raised the Kokiri Sword in his left hand as he reached Gohma and leapt onto the monster's side, clambering up one of its legs. His fingers found an edge of the beast's carapace, and he hauled himself up onto its armored head, and looked directly into its wounded, ravaged eye. Gohma tried to close the eye to defend it, but Link's right hand grasped the eyelid and he wrenched it open with sudden, indescribable strength for one so small.

_Leave our forest!_ Link shouted in his mind as he raised the magical blade of the Lost Woods and plunged it into the wounded Gohma's eye. The sword descended deep, piercing the glowing red orb, puncturing and flattening it, and the monster reeled backward. The Kokiri was hurled off Gohma as it thrashed wildly, the magical blade still imbedded in its head, and it rose up on its rear leg. Black fire burst from its head, mouth, and devastated eye, and it fell backward to the floor, its heavy carapace seeming to crumple with the impact. More evil flames flowed through cracks in the carapace, and the body slowly began to lose cohesion, breaking apart into burning ash and escaping bursts of evil magic.

And then, like the Wolfos Link had slain hours ago, Gohma fell apart into nothing but cinders and ash, which drifted about aimlessly in the cavern beneath the Great Deku Tree.

Link slowly stood up, pushing against a root as he peered through the mist and fog, watching Gohma vanish, and panted heavily. His blood seeped out of the gash on his left arm, and his chest was battered and bruised where the spider-like beast had struck. He was splattered with blood and ichors from both his own wounds and Gohma's children, and his clothes were shredded.

But he had won.

"Is it over, Navi?" the Kokiri asked, looking up at his guardian, who slowly bobbed, and turned toward her battered but triumphant charge.

"We did it, Link," she assured him, and he nodded slowly as he pushed off the tree root and staggered forward, toward his blade. His tiny hands sifted through the mist and fog and dirt, until they touched warm steel, and he took the forest blade in his hands.

"We saved the Deku Tree," the blond Kokiri declared, straightening, sword in hand, and a smile finally found its way onto his face. "Let's get out of here, Navi."

* * *

**_Author's Notes: _**One of the biggest challenges with dungeons in the Zelda series is that they're . . . game-ish. There's not much of a way around the fact that most Zelda dungeons are essentially a series of rooms with puzzles, none of which really make much sense from a narrative standpoint. A few of _Twilight Princess'_ dungeons actually work well, within this framework; the Goron Mines, for example, have you locating the Elders to get the pieces of the key, and the Forest Temple in TP and the Fire Temple in Ocarina have you rescuing people to advance the dungeon. But by and large, the various dungeons, while brilliantly constructed environments, are not conducive to a good narrative, even an action-oriented one.

For that reason, the Deku Tree dungeon was seriously cut back. I'm probably going to try to retain the gist of the other, later dungeons, while still avoiding much of the time-consuming puzzle-solving elements. For example, in the later Forest Temple, much of the rushing hither and yon throughout the temple will be cut out. Some other temples (Spirit, Shadow, and Water, in particular) may also face major cutbacks to remove puzzles that neither make sense nor would serve much purpose in a narrative. However, I will try to retain most of the significant encounters and dungeon items, and especially try to retain some of the more memorable puzzles, while keeping them interesting from the narrative standpoint.

Until next chapter . . . .


	4. Chapter III: Destiny

_**Chapter III: Destiny**_

The shuffling of feet on the grass heralded their arrival, and he emerged from the large tent as soon as he heard them. The three creatures moved through the camp, and though his retainers and guards bristled at the presence of the Wolfos, none of them stopped the scouts. He listened patiently as the trio of monsters reported in their guttural tongue, telling him of what they had seen within the forest, and he nodded as they finished their report. The language was one he understood through the aid of his dark magic, which created an empathic link between himself and the creatures he had made.

The Deku Tree was withering and his wards fading, just as expected.

With a wave of his hand he dismissed his minions, ordering them back to the forest to continue watching for further developments. The Wolfos broke and departed, and he turned back to his tent. With a single barked order to his attendants the camp began to break up, the horses being gathered and structures being disassembled. Now that he knew his curse had its desired effect on the wood, he could continue on to Hyrule Castle, where he and his delegation were expected any day now. The Gorons and Zoras had already received his ultimatums days ago, and were no doubt falling over themselves trying to deal with the troubles he had caused them.

Within his tent, he slid the black steel and leather of his plate mail over his chest, and smiled, a wicked grin that exuded only dark desire and malice. The rock-eaters and the water dwellers had been predictably obstinate, but he doubted that they would be as stubborn as the Great Deku Tree. They were creatures of reason, while the Tree was a guardian spirit created by the Goddesses to his duties. He had not really expected that the Deku Tree would capitulate, like rational beings would.

In a few days time, he would return to the dead forest and burn it down, and then take what he wanted from the withered branches of the dead Tree before breaking the stubborn spirit down into kindling for his followers' fires.

Within a few minutes his attendants had broken down the camp and packed it up, their nomadic nature serving them well in this vibrant and lush land. He packed his own tent onto his black steed, and looked up toward the sun. A slight breeze wafted among the group and he paused, raising his head and taking a deep breath of that life-giving wind before smiling and mounting his steed. Barking another order, the red-haired Gerudo set his retinue moving over the rolling hills of Hyrule, and toward their appointment with the King.

* * *

Link wasn't sure what had just happened. He and Navi had made their way back out into the chamber where they had slain the Gohma larvae and were looking for a way to climb back up the tunnel, when a harsh azure light a thousand times brighter than anything Navi could have produced washed over him. He had closed his eyes, trying to block out the intense burst of illumination, and then was lifted into the air to be whisked along by gentle but forceful hands.

The earthen scent suddenly vanished, and was replaced by the fresh aromas of a late-morning forest. He could hear the rustling of leaves being whipped about by the wind, and the calls of songbirds high in the treetops. The light began to fade, and he opened his eyes, slowly adjusting to his brighter surroundings, as his feet touched the thick grass of the Great Deku Tree's clearing.

The guardian spirit loomed overhead, towering above Link as the exhausted Kokiri settled down onto the grass. He glanced around and saw that with the exception of Navi and himself, the clearing was empty. He looked back up to the Great Deku Tree, and the gap in the ancient spirit's bark was twisting shut.

"**I thank thee, brave Link, and thou too, Navi,"** the Deku Tree spoke. Unlike before, where the voice had carried great pain and foreboding, the Deku Tree's emanations now carried a sense of calm and serenity. **"For the peace that has been restored to this forest, the least I can do is to ease thine return."**

"Thank you, Great Deku Tree," Link offered.

"**Nay, Link, for my thanks must be extended to thee," **the Tree replied. **"Thy courage was great, and with the wisdom of Navi by thine side, the curse was broken." **Link looked away from the Deku Tree, not happy with the spirit's assessment. Though he had fought the beasts in the heart of the Deku Tree, he had still been terrified of them. The Tree shouldn't be praising his courage.

"**Now, there is much I need to tell thee, regarding the nature of this dark curse and the shadow that has fallen over our forest as of late," **the spirit continued**. "Will thou listen to a tale that hath not been spoken of to your fellows?"**

He blinked in surprise. The Kokiri knew that the Great Deku Tree was possessed of great knowledge, but when he had told them stories, it had always been to the entire village. He'd never limited his stories to only one or a few people.

Then again, Link, mused, if he had only told it to a few, they wouldn't be inclined to spread it around. The Deku Tree wouldn't tell such things to everyone if everyone was meant to know them.

"Of course," Link replied, and he settled down into the grass, as he always did when the Great Deku Tree would tell the Kokiri stories.

"**Heed my words, brave Link,"** the Great Deku Tree warned, and was silent for an moment, as if considering his next sentence with great import.

"**The shadows in these woods, and the dark creatures that you have fought so often today, have all sprung from one source, the same source that had put the evil curse upon me," **the Tree declared. **"A vile, dark-hearted man who hails from the farthest western deserts, a man whose hate and greed are surpassed only by his powers in the dark arts of evil sorcery." **

Link listened closely, leaning forward, and his eyes widened. If what the Great Deku Tree was saying was true, that a _person_ had placed a curse upon him that would break through even the guardian spirit's defenses . . . what kind of power did that sort of a person wield?

As the Deku Tree spoke, Link could feel sensations wafting through the air, as the spirit worked his magic. He had always used his power to heighten the vivid tales he would tell to the Kokiri, and now was no exception; Link could see the forest give way to orange flames, and he caught a glimpse of a man with fire-red hair and harsh yellow eyes, atop a vast black horse - the same black horse he saw in his dreams.

A pang of fear shot through Link at that sight.

"**This evil man is ceaselessly using his sorcerous powers in his search for the gateway to the divine place known as the Sacred Realm," **The Deku tree continued. **"And to that end, he placed this foul curse upon me, to force me to bow to his wishes. But I would not surrender, for to allow this man his desires, to allow him into the Sacred Realm, would invite unimaginable disaster."**

"What's in the Sacred Realm?" Link asked, and the vision shifted, and Link found himself floating amidst a vast, swirling mixture of gray clouds and water, an endless stream of rain pouring from distances above and passing below out of sight. He turned, looking around at the swirling chaos, and stopped when three distant pinpoints of golden light could be seen in the far distance. His eyes latched onto those points of reference, lest his mind get lost trying - and failing - to understand the depth of the vast emptiness he was looking upon.

"**The sacred relics that remain from when our world was first formed," **the Deku Tree's voice answered. **"In the beginning, before this world and the nation of Hyrule within that world existed, there was but chaos and void, formless and lifeless. But then the three Goddesses descended to shape the world into what it is now."**

As he watched, the pinpoints of light grew larger and brighter, and Link squinted his eyes as they drew closer, the dazzling golden light piercing into his skull. He squinted, tears forming in his eyes, and he could make out the vague shapes of massive, mighty women, their bodies of pure light and raw power, each trailed by an aura - one of raw red flame, another of pure blue order, and the last of swirling green life. Link wasn't sure how else to describe these auras, except to imagine that they were the purest essence of power, law, and life, in tangible form, a form only the Goddesses themselves could craft.

"**Din, Goddess of Power, with her strong, flaming arms, took the void in hand and brought it together, to craft the raw red earth and the land that would become Hyrule." **As those words echoed in Link's mind, he saw the Goddess trailed by fire sweep out, the aura surrounding her shooting across into the void, grasping and turning, shaping and twisting. Rock and ore, water and air, emerged from the chaos, crashing together. Flashes of lighting and the roar of thunder - the first sounds of the new world - could be heard as the mighty Goddess literally twisted and hammered the empty chaos into a new world vastly different from the nothing that had stood before.

"**Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, with her boundless knowledge, sent her spirit across the realm to gift it with nature and law, ordering the world that Din had built," **the ancient voice continued. The second Goddess sent her own aura out across the vast, barren realm, and as her blue light passed over, wind began to blow, and clouds began to form. Water flowed and ice froze, and light shone down from the stars and the moon and the sun. Link watched in fascination as the natural order of the world took shape at Nayru's whim.

"**Finally, Farore, Goddess of Courage, with her rich soul, formed and created the life that would live within this new realm crafted by Din, and uphold the law of Nayru." **The force of life erupted forth from the last Goddess' body and stretched across the realm, and where it went, grass sprouted and insects emerged. Amidst the water, fish appeared, and trees bloomed and grew, forming into the ancient forests and rolling plains and even the vibrant, hardy life of the desert.

"**And with their labors concluded," **the Deku Tree said, **"the three Goddesses departed Hyrule. However, at the place where they returned to their celestial homes, the Goddesses left three sacred golden artifacts, triangles which held the essence of each Goddess' work on this world." **The Goddesses turned away from the world they had crafted and departed, and as they did so, Link watched them come together. In a flash, they vanished, leaving a triad of shimmering golden triangles, just as the Deku Tree had said. Each triangle resounded with the energy of the Goddess who had created it, and even in the Deku tree's vision, he could sense the reverberations of divine power.

"**These three triangles became known as the Triforce," **the Deku Tree finished. **"And the place where they rest, the point where the Goddesses left this realm, is now known as the Sacred Realm."**

The vision faded, and Link found himself once again sitting on the grass of the Great Deku Tree's meadow, looking up at the ancient spirit.

"**Link, heed my words closely,"** the Great Deku Tree said, his voice filled with such solemn gravity that cold apprehension worked through the Kokiri's chest. **"Thou must never allow the desert man in the black armor to lay his hands upon the Triforce. Thou must not suffer him, with his evil heart, to enter the Sacred Realm of legend. That evil man, with his greed and his hunger, who cast the death curse upon me with his vile monsters, and sapped my power."**

_Death curse?_ Link thought with sudden alarm, and stood up. He felt a wave of sadness roll off the Great Deku tree at that moment, followed by . . . _pride_.

"**Yes, brave Link and dear Navi,**" the Deku Tree spoke, and these words were laced with exhaustion and resignation. **"Though thou were successful in breaking the curse upon me, thine efforts were far too late. I was doomed before thou had even began . . . ."**

"No!" both Navi and Link shouted at the same moment. Death was not a common occurrence in Kokiri society, and the idea of their own guardian deity dying and leaving them alone was unfathomable. Without thinking, he ran across the clearing toward the Tree, and reached his base, grabbing his bark with both hands.

"You can't die!" Tears welled up inside his eyes. "You can't leave us like this! Not after all we did for you!"

"**Death is the way of all things, Link," **the Deku Tree replied, the very bark under Link's hands vibrating as he spoke. **"Do not shed tears for me, young one. I have been able to tell you of these grave matters." **

"But . . . ." Link closed his eyes, hot tears starting to flow down his face.

"**There is more yet that thou must understand," **the Deku Tree spoke, his voice soft, and in Link's mind, feeling like it was fading away. **"This is Hyrule's final hope. Nay . . . _thou_ art Hyrule's final hope." **Those words registered in Link's mind, and he stopped crying, instead looking up, not understanding what the Great Deku Tree was implying.

"**The time that thou has been yearning for has come . . . ." **The tree declared. From high above Link's head, amidst the boughs of the Great Deku Tree's branches, a shimmering green light became visible. **"Thou hast always been destined to depart these woods, and now is that time. Go forth to Hyrule Castle, far to the north of these scared groves, and seek out the one known as Princess Zelda. Give her . . . . this stone . . . the Kokiri's Emerald, which the dark man wanted so badly that he cast the death curse upon me . . . ."**

The light descended toward the bewildered Kokiri, and he raised a hand toward it as it drew near. His fingers closed around it, and he felt cool, solid hardness in his fingers. The verdant illumination faded, and he could see he held a large, gleaming emerald in hand, wreathed with perfect, polished gold.

"**Thou must protect Hyrule, Link," **the Deku Tree spoke, and his words were filled with frightening finality. **"The Triforce and the Sacred Realm . . . the future depends upon thee, Link, and thou, Navi . . . ."**

Silence filled the meadow for several moments, and both Link and Navi felt more than heard the last words of the Great Deku Tree.

"**Thou art both courageous . . . good . . . bye . . . ."**

Beneath his hands, Link felt the vibrations that signified the life within the Great Deku Tree begin to fade, and the empathetic waves of emotion that he had grown used to began to dissipate. He took a step back in horror as he looked up to the Great Deku Tree, watching his deep brown bark slowly darken and harden, and a deep rumble of spitting, cracking wood filled the meadow. From high above, brown leaves began to drift down to the ground, and small branches broke and fell to the dirt. The mighty Deku Tree's body went still, the brown bark fading to lifeless gray, and the meadow suddenly went cold, silent, and empty.

The Great Deku Tree, guardian spirit of the Kokiri and their forest, had died.

When that realization sank in, Link felt the strength leave his body, and he settled against the dead tree's bark. The grief poured out.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, leaning against the Great Deku tree, his tears flowing freely as he grieved. The father of the Kokiri was gone, torn from them without warning . . . It wasn't fair. The Kokiri beat his hands uselessly against the dead tree's bark, demanding to know why the Great Deku Tree had to die like this, to leave him and the rest of the forest alone.

The minutes stretched on, and while the grief still remained, Link slowly began to stop crying. The final words of the guardian spirit echoed in his mind, repeating over and over again as he lay against the dead tree. As his tears dried, the Kokiri looked to Emerald he had been gifted by the Great Deku Tree, and his fingers tightened around it.

The evil man in the black armor had killed the Great Deku Tree, as part of a plan to capture this stone, which was just part of a larger, greater plot to conquer the world itself . . . and the Great Deku Tree, with his dying words, had begged Link to stop him. He had commanded Link to shed no tears, but instead to remember him and to ensure that his death had not been in vain.

Link sniffled, inhaled, and stood, wiping an arm across his face to brush away the tears that lingered on his face. The Great Deku Tree had given him one final duty to perform.

"I won't forget," Link proclaimed, looking up to the remains of his spiritual father , his face red from his grief. "I promise you, Great Deku Tree, that I won't let your death be in vain! I'll hunt down and I'll _stop_ the man who put the curse on you! I promise!"

"And I'm coming with you, too," Navi's voice could be heard overhead, and Link looked up, to see her flying back into the clearing. This made the Kokiri blink, for he hadn't even realized that she had left him, during his brief but intense moment of grief.

"I've spoken with the other fairies," Navi added as she drifted closer to Link. "It looks as if after we destroyed the curse in the Great Deku Tree, the forest is starting to return to normal. We've decided that we're going to keep working with the Kokiri to keep the forest safe until we can plant and grow a new Deku Tree sprout." Link nodded at her words. Though the Great Deku Tree was a mighty, ancient spirit, even _he_ had to come from somewhere, and the forest's tree spirits grew from sprouts, often left behind when their progenitor had to pass on. Link knew that they could rely on the forest fairies and other woodland spirits to protect and grow a new Deku Tree to guard the woods once it reached maturity.

"So, now what are we going to do?" Navi asked, to which Link responded by taking his sword in hand and moving beside the remains of the guardian spirit.

"The Great Deku Tree gave us a mission before he died," Link replied, and he stuck his sword into the side of the dead tree. Navi watched, curious, as he worked the blade back and forth over a section of the ancient spirit's bark, working a portion of the durable wood loose. A large, wide chunk fell to the ground, big enough that the Kokiri could heft it as a shield . . . though it still needed to be crafted into one.

"And we're going to do what he asked us to do," Link finished, as he moved around the clearing. Within moments, he found a long, straight branch that had fallen off the Deku Tree when he had died. A few quick cuts cleared off extra twigs and leaves, and shortened the branch to about the length and width of Link's arm.

"So, we're leaving the forest?" she asked, a bit hesitantly. Navi followed Link as he took the strip of bark and branch in hand, and started walking out of the meadow.

"Yeah," Link whispered with determination as he passed under the treetops and onto the shaded trail leading back to the village. "The Great Deku Tree died protecting this forest, and we're going to put a stop to whoever it was that killed him, no matter what it takes."

The trail was silent, and none of the Deku Babas that had plagued it hours before emerged to threaten the pair as they moved back to the village. However, as they neared the edge of the village clearing itself, a familiar, enraged Kokiri came running down the trail at Link, waving his arms angrily.

"Link! What's going on around here? The fairies are all babbling about the Great Deku Tree dying!" Mido came up short when he saw that the blond Kokiri was bearing a large piece of Deku bark, and his expression twisted into one of anger and outrage as Link tried to push past.

"You! What did you do to the Great Deku Tree? You killed him, didn't you? _Didn't you?"_

Perhaps it was anger, or grief, or simple raw animosity toward Mido. Maybe Link was simply exhausted from the day's trials and shocks, and his patience with Mido had simply run out. But no amount of explanations would change the blond Kokiri's answer to Mido's wild, unsubstantiated claims.

Link came up short, and dropped the branch he was carrying, before whirling on Mido and decking him with a right cross into the jaw, knocking a tooth loose and throwing him to the dirt.

"Quit talking crap, Mido!" the blond Kokiri shot back, anger cutting across his features. "I have work to do!" The dazzled Kokiri boss stared up at Link, stupefied for a moment at the powerful blow.

"Like hell you do!" Mido growled as he scrambled back up to his feet, rubbing his jaw. He shook his head to clear it, and then ran toward Link, intent on stopping him. "You're not going anywhere!"

"Get back!" Link snarled, his voice full of anger and ferocity that made even Mido come up short. But he didn't back down until he saw Link put a hand on the sword in his belt, an action that amazed even Mido; while Link had often quarreled and fought with Mido, he had never shown anything resembling deadly intent. Even so, it was impossible for Mido to deny the anger in Link's face, nor the hand ready to draw the sacred blade of the forest. The Kokiri boss wisely opted to back down.

With Mido cowed, Link turned away and picked up the branch he had procured, and started off for the village. The Kokiri boss watched his nemesis depart, and so focused was he on Link that he didn't see Navi move up until she was right in front of him. There was a flash of azure light as she bopped the stunned Kokiri in the head, and Mido fell back to the dirt, protesting as Navi returned to her charge.

He glared at his own fairy guardian as he stood up.

"Why didn't you help me?" he demanded, and the glittering pink orb above him bobbed once.

"I think you deserved it, really," came the unexpected reply, and Mido's grumbles doubled over.

* * *

Link climbed up the ladder into his house and remained there for the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon. In the meantime, Mido, enraged by Link's actions - both real and imaginary - went from one end of the village to the other, ranting and raving about what "the fairyless idiot" had done. Very few actually paid him any attention; most of the Kokiri knew that half of it was Mido's grudge against Link, and they also knew Link would never willingly do anything to harm their guardian spirit. Even so, many were shocked and grieving over the death of their spiritual father, and the entire village was in an uproar.

Thus it was that, later in the afternoon, when Link finally emerged from his house and started climbing down the ladder once again, an enraged Mido was preparing to confront him once more. The self-proclaimed Kokiri boss strode toward Link's house as he saw the blond Kokiri drop off the ladder, and was about to speak when he actually _saw_ Link.

Gone was the injured and dirty boy who had crawled out of the Deku Tree. He had changed into a fresh set of green clothes, and his long floppy hat had been set properly atop his head. Green cloth bandages had been wrapped around the wounds he'd taken fighting the monsters beneath the Tree. More striking than his repaired clothes were the new gear he wore: the wide strip of Deku Tree bark that he had borne had been worked to include a handle on the inner curve, allowing Link to wear it on his arm as a shield. Using the Kokiri Sword, Link had carved a twisting design into the front of the new shield, the symbol of the Kokiri Forest and the Great Deku Tree himself; red sap was still hardening inside the cut, making it glitter in the afternoon light. Across his chest Link had taken another of his belts and made it into a bandoleer, looping over his left shoulder and down his right hip, and upon the bandoleer's left shoulder was a simple, short scabbard, carved out of the thick Deku Tree branch he had been carrying. Within that scabbard was the Kokiri Sword, within easy reach of his left hand. Several pouches were worn on his belt, in addition to the ones he'd borne before.

And most striking of all were his eyes: they were no longer the angry, grief-stricken ones he had directed at Mido, with a hand on his sword and ready to strike. They bore a fierce determination, the fire of someone who had been given a mission of grave importance. The expression on Link's face and in Link's eyes made Mido back off a step, but the Kokiri boss was still too upset to simply let the blond boy pass.

"Where are _you_ going, murderer!" Mido growled, standing in front of Link. The blond Kokiri stepped around him, not bothering to shove him out of his way.

"I'm leaving," Link replied firmly.

"What? What do you mean?" Mido shot back, chasing after Link. "Are you just running away? After what you did back there? After you killed the Great Deku Tree?"

"I didn't kill him!" Link replied whirling on Mido. He grabbed the Kokiri boss by the front of his tunic and shook him angrily. "Before he died, the Great Deku Tree game me a task, and I have to do it!" Link shoved Mido back to the ground, and turned around, heading toward the north end of the village.

"Get back here!" Mido yelled, scrambling to his feet and rushing after his nemesis. "You can't leave! Where are you going to go?"

"Hyrule," Link answered without looking back, and those words stopped Mido in his tracks. Hyrule itself was tot he north, outside the woods. Kokiri had never left the forest; they couldn't survive outside the woods like Outsiders did. Was Link just going to go commit suicide?

"Fine then!" Mido replied, crossing his arms. "Go on and leave, Link! Go out there and die! No one here will miss you, you murderer!"

The words stung, for though Mido had used other cruel insults in the past, the false accusation was worse than anything Link had yet taken. He grit his teeth and pushed the words out of his mind. His feud with Mido wasn't important, at least not in light of what the Deku Tree had warned him of and the mission he was being sent on.

Within minutes, Link had passed beyond the edge of the village and was running under the boughs of the forest, cutting a trail north, toward the boundaries of the ancient wood, and to places not even he had traveled to before.

The seconds stretched on into minutes, and the minutes seemed to pass like hours as Link ran, his little legs carrying him ever further north, leaving behind his home, his friends, and everything he had known. In his pocket bounced the Kokiri's Emerald, the last gift of the still-living Great Deku Tree, and the sign that it was finally time for him to see the lands beyond the forest he had lived in for all his life. Navi chased him over his shoulder, close at hand.

Link didn't know how long he ran. It felt like hours had passed, but he didn't tire, at least not at first. He drank from a waterskin as he ran, and did not slow until he could see the sun begin to dip in the thinning branches overhead. His run began to slow to a jog, and as the minutes passed, the jog began to turn into a steady walk as the exhaustion of the entire day began to creep over the Kokiri. Navi settled into the brim of his cap, just as weary as he.

The sun had begun to set, and the forest was thinning out noticeably, when Link finally heard movement beyond that of his own boots on the forest floor. He came to a stop and looked back, wondering what had made the noise. He caught sight of green hair and relaxed, a smile appearing on his face.

"I thought you might be leaving," she said, stepping around the tree she had been waiting behind and walking toward him. She looked tired, and sad, and was clutching something in her hand.

"The Great Deku Tree," Link said, choking as he spoke. "Before he . . . before he . . . he told me I needed to go outside the forest. He gave me a mission to do."

"I know," Saria replied, and she smiled faintly. "I knew you would leave someday anyway . . . because even with Navi and living with the rest of us for so long, you're different from me and my friends. I don't know how to explain it, but I always had this feeling that you would someday decide the forest wasn't big enough, and you would leave, no matter how hard I tried to get you to stay."

She reached out with her empty hand and touched him on the shoulder, and the comforting contact made Link feel at ease.

"But that's okay," she added, her smile growing. "because we'll be friends forever, won't we?"

"Always," Link answered, nodding, and putting a hand of his own on hers.

"Since you're leaving, I thought I might give you something to remember me," she added, and her other hand rose, producing one of the polished, oblong ocarinas she had crafted. Saria held it out to him, and he hesitantly took it in hand.

"I know you can't play too well," she explained as he looked over the simple, smooth instrument. "But I know you have what it takes to be a great musician, Link. Please take good care of it."

Link held the ocarina in hand, and looked back up to his friend. A dozen emotions boiled up inside of him at that moment as he looked into Saria's warm green eyes - eyes that asked him to stay, even if he _had _to leave - and he looked away.

"Thank you, Saria," he whispered. The Great Deku Tree's words resounded in his mind, and his heart told him that the task appointed to him was far more important, but even so . . . .

"I . . . Saria, I have to . . ." Link paused, and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Saria," he whispered. "I have to go now."

And with those words, Link turned and ran off to the north, leaving Saria to watch her friend depart for the unknown.

* * *

**_Author's Notes: _**This chapter was a bit of a challenge. I'll admit it right off that I'm not that good at writing characters in grief, and in all honesty I think having the story focus on Link's grief over the death of the Great Deku Tree would ruin the pacing. I still felt it necessary to have the Deku Tree's death have some impact on him, which is why you have an angry, vengeful, and dedicated Link at the end of this chapter.

One thing that I was struggling with was a means by which Link would have some of his adventuring gear, especially with him pulling the Kokiri Sword straight from its mount in the Sacred Forest Meadow a couple chapters back. Not having a scabbard was solved by suddenly remembering that Link lived in a _forest;_ if he can't work a little bit of wood I'd feel sorry for him. Ditto for the Deku Shield. The actual method of Link getting the Deku Shield was taken directly from the _Ocarina of Time_ manga; I was kicking around multiple ideas for how Link would get the shield, and I realized that most of them were contrived or silly, and then remembered how he got the shield in the manga. Mental click.

Next chapter, expect Link to discover just how _big _Hyrule is, and to meet up with plenty of very tall people, including a surprise or two. I've also been playing plenty of_ Twilight Princess_ lately, and I may try to work some elements of that game into this one. Twilight Realm, Light Spirits, Crazy Ninja Mailman . . . okay, maybe not that last one. :P

Oh, and expect more Ganondorf. _Lots_ more Ganondorf.

Until next chapter . . . .


	5. Chapter IV: A Wider World

_**Chapter IV: A Wider World**_

There were many names for the brilliant glowing light in the daytime sky, most commonly referred to as "the sun." The Gorons, from their high mountain homes, named it the "Ruby of Light," while the aquatic Zora people, who so often saw it as a paler source of illumination from beneath the surface, named it the "Heavenly Pearl." The Hylian people, who claimed to be so close to the Goddesses and the other deities that oversaw the world, named the sun in accordance to the mighty Goddess of power, Din. Names such as "Hand of Din" or "Eye of Din" were often invoked. The Gerudo people of the far west had many names for the sun, but none of them were pleasant, and many would be considered downright rude if the Gerudo weren't a people who had little use for politeness.

The Kokiri people, however, had no true _name_ for the sun. They simply recognized it as an indicator of daytime, just as they recognized the moon as an indicator of nighttime. For a people who lived almost entirely for the moment, worrying about the passage of time was not important; the Kokiri lived for the darkness of night as much as they lived for the brightness of day.

However, as Link reached the edge of the forest, he slowed, for the sun was descending far in the east, and the thinning woods were darkening. For most of what he remembered of his waking days, the forest was as beautiful at night as it was in the daytime, with thousands of sprites and fairies dancing amidst the boughs and tree trunks, an endless parade of light amidst the glittering stars and brilliant moon. But here, at the edge of the forest, the fairies and fey were less common, and memories of the dark beasts he had slain remained etched in Link's mind.

Nights were not something a Kokiri should fear, but here and now, at the edge of the wood, Link was becoming wary. He advanced toward the borders of the Kokiri Forest, his eyes open and alert, a hand on the scabbard on his shoulder. The blond boy had awakened Navi, and she floated alongside him, her azure aura a welcome relief in the descending darkness.

He then found himself standing at the end of the Forest. The trees, though they were thinning out, suddenly began to fade away on all sides of him, and there he stood, peering out over an endless sea of grass.

Clearings, Link had seen plenty of. Meadows and open areas of the wood were scattered throughout the forest, left by collapsed trees or fierce storms. But what Link was looking upon was like nothing he had ever seen, and endless vista of swaying grass, as high as his chest and beyond. In every direction, he could see the darkening field stretch far and wide, with no trees in the distance.

_No trees._

Link took a step back, and looked up to the forest boughs towering above him, and moved back under their comforting height. A dread unease filled his gut as he had looked over the open plain, as if he was staring into a vast unknown he couldn't comprehend. And with the sun falling, the Kokiri wondered if it would be a wise idea to rush out into that vast openness, without any fairies or fey to light his passage, relying only on the stars and moon.

"Navi, I think we'll camp here tonight," he muttered, and the fairy bobbed in agreement.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," she replied, peering over the rolling plain. "From what I've heard, the fields of Hyrule are not safe at night."

Link could certainly agree with _that_ assessment. To one who had been raised in the sheltering forest for his whole life, seeing such a vast openness was deeply unsettling, especially in the darkening night.

Thus it was that Link retreated back to the safety of his forest, until the trees were thick enough that he couldn't see the empty, grassy plain, and he waited for daylight.

* * *

In Hyrule, the term "Sage" carried a special weight and context. While ordinary men and women of great wisdom and age existed, who knew much of the world and the magic of the three Goddesses who had crafted it, the concept of a "Sage" was something far greater. To be a Sage was to not only know the power of the Goddesses, but to be chosen by them to safeguard the greatest and darkest secrets of the world. It was rare indeed to be chosen by the Goddesses, and not all who were thus chosen knew about their place and the power it represented.

Kaepora Gaebora had long ago been one of the Goddesses' chosen, and he had performed his divine duties well, quietly safeguarding the people of Hyrule with his wisdom and magic. But even Sages knew the ravages of time, and one day, he had passed beyond his mortal coil, and the Goddesses chose a new Sage to take his place. Yet, even after passing on, the power and importance of the dead Sage remained, and the Goddesses gave Kaepora's spirit a new task. Though he still played an important role in ensuring the safety of his beloved Hyrule, his focus had narrowed, and until tonight, he had only waited patiently, living as his new body dictated, waiting for a sign that he was to resume his duties.

As the sun descended and his sensitive eyes opened, the ancient, reincarnated Sage knew something was amiss. He quietly stepped out of his home, the hollowed-out interior of a tree overlooking the vast waters of Lake Hylia, and peered around, his large, sharpened eyes taking in all of the immense lake with inhuman precision. Though he was no longer a human, the form the goddesses had gifted the Sage allowed him to roam the world and see all that happened. The wings and eyes of an owl befitted his role in the Goddesses' grand scheme, and tonight he sensed that this role had finally come.

Though a new Sage had been chosen to replace Kaepora, he still retained much of the magic and all of the ancient knowledge that he had held as a human, and now that magic was warning the owl of a dark, fundamental change in the realm.

He spotted a small rodent slipping through the grasses along the shores of Lake Hylia, and Kaepora took to the air, even as he sensed the shift in the winds. Though as of late, he had sensed a growing darkness in the air and in the earth, it was not until tonight that Kaepora Gaebora comprehended the gravity of the situation.

"The Great Deku Tree is dead," he murmured to himself, his words barely recognizable, buried in the hooting calls of a great owl. He dove to the earth and at the animal he had spotted, and swiftly captured it in his talons, before returning to the sky, seeming to be nothing but a gliding ghost in the darkening night.

Perhaps he had delayed too long. Though he was once a Sage and still had vast knowledge, Kaepora was not omniscient, and though he had sensed the growing darkness, he had not acted. If he had moved sooner, could the forest guardian perhaps have been saved?

But the Goddesses did not chose one who would doubt himself so readily. Though the Great Deku Tree's loss was painful, in the grand scheme of things, the forest spirit's death was but one of countless tragedies in the course of the world's existence. Tonight, he would need to act quickly to ensure that _worse_ tragedies would not happen.

For if the Great Deku Tree had fallen, then that meant that the time had finally come for the boy in the forest to rise to his destiny.

The magical owl ate quickly, and took to the sky again in moments. His wings beat as he ascended and started east, away from the lake and across the vast expanses that were Hyrule's rolling hills and fields. Scattered woodlands and vast grasslands stretched out beneath him, as far as his avian eyes could see. Villages large and small dotted the landscape, and far to the north, on the horizon, the owl could spot the slender spires of Hyrule Castle against the starry night.

Kaepora veered south as he sensed the moon reaching its apex, and as the hours passed, he could see the ancient, enchanted woods on the horizon, the Kokiri Forest. He slowly descended, and sighted a tree on the edge of the wood, where he could watch the forest. If the Great Deku Tree had fallen, then the one he was tasked with guiding would be departing the forest soon.

Kaepora Gaebora landed on a branch and folded up his wings, and settled in to wait out the rest of the night.

* * *

"Link!"

The Kokiri boy groggily opened his eyes, and rubbed at them as he yawned. As he looked up, he caught sight of Navi's blue glow, and the fairy's presence reminded him of his mission. That jolted the heavy sleeper all the way into awareness, and he started standing up, even as he realized that the dark night had given way to morning. Sunlight burst down from the trees overhead, and that fact reminded the Kokiri of the reason he had retreated into the woods, and why he had settled against the tree trunk and closed his eyes, to rest as he waited for the sun to rise . . . .

He'd gone the whole night and part of the morning asleep, and his stomach was aching. Link unpacked his store of traveling food - a few handfuls of berries and fruits plucked from the trees and bushes as he'd run through the woods - and ate a swift breakfast. Once awakened and his stomach was full, the Kokiri gathered up his makeshift gear - sword, shield, and scabbard, and headed toward the edge of the forest.

Link prayed the fields would look different in the sunlight, and not as the empty vastness he had seen last night. He moved to the edge of the forest, the trees thinning rapidly as he walked, and within moments the Kokiri stood at the very edge of his beloved wood. What he saw amazed him.

The sinister, empty darkness that had covered the open field during the night was gone, and the sun shone down on vast, open fields of swaying, golden and green grass. An immense blue sky stretched out above him, clouds flowing freely across the azure expanse. Though there were still no trees, Link could see off toward the horizon, at a distance he had never fathomed he could view, and the sheer _size_ of the open fields of Hyrule shocked the young Kokiri. Even at night he hadn't expected the scope of the land he was looking upon. For the sheltered Kokiri, it was . . . _breathtaking_.

At the same moment, a sweeping feeling of freedom fell upon the forest child. Link realized that the _entire_ expanse before him stood open and ready to explore, and it and the world beyond was beckoning for him to walk its lengths. The boy's heart soared as he came to this realization, and without even thinking, Link bolted from underneath the forest's protective boughs and into the open grasslands, laughing in pure joy. Navi chased after him, calling to the running Kokiri as he pushed aside the high grasses, some of which were almost taller than him.

"Link, slow down!" his fairy guardian called, as he pushed through the grass. The boy paused and peered over the top of the plants, which swayed back and forth. The tips of the grass tickled his skin, and he laughed again, an honest sound of joy. It was likely the first time he'd laughed since he'd come to the Great Deku Tree's clearing. That seemed like weeks ago . . . .

His unguided exploration of the field beyond the woods was cut off suddenly, as a great shadow passed by overhead. Link looked up, and as he realized he and Navi weren't alone, he grabbed his sword's handle and prepared to draw it. However, a moment's searching revealed the source of the shadow: a huge brown owl, which was circling overhead. As soon as the owl seemed to realize that Link was watching it, the massive bird turned and flew toward one of the trees, landing and folding its wings as it perched on a long, thick branch.

"So," a voice spoke, without warning, "The time has finally come for you to leave these woods." Link blinked, and looked around, confused, until he turned his gaze back up toward the owl. The words had not been spoken, at least not audibly, but had resounded in Link's mind, just like the Great Deku Tree's thoughts had. It took only an instant for the Kokiri to connect the words with the owl that was watching him so intently.

"Who are you?" Link asked, lowering his hand from his weapon, now more curious than tense. This owl was speaking as if it_ knew_ him.

"Well, that's a very complicated question," the owl replied, his voice betraying a sense of amusement. "To keep things simple, I'm an . . . informed observer. And you are Link, the Kokiri boy who, until recently, it seems, did not have a fairy." Link nodded, surprised that this owl he had never seen seemed to know so much about him.

"Tell me, Link, do you believe in fate?" the question surprised the boy further, and he blinked. In all honesty, with the carefree life that the Kokiri tended to live, he hadn't thought much about what direction his life was headed. Fate seemed almost an alien concept to him, except for what the Great Deku Tree had spoken of, in his tales of great warriors and heroes.

Wait. Was the owl saying that _fate_ was applying to _him?_

"Um . . . well, I think something like it exists," he offered, and heard an amused hoot from the owl.

"Indeed," the bird said, his mental voice quiet and thoughtful. "Every person has a destiny, Link. You are aware of the Goddesses who have crafted our land of Hyrule?" Link's nod confirmed that he did. "The Goddesses play a special role in destiny and fate. For you see, while every person has an _intended_ destiny, whether they _can_ fulfill it, or whether they even _want _to, is another question entirely. Do you understand?" Link slowly nodded at the owl's words, and his curiosity grew as the bird discussed such abstract concepts. While some animals were gifted with unusual intelligence, this one was far above and beyond anything the Kokiri had seen in his lifetime.

"It was destiny that led to this moment, here, Link," the owl continued. "One day you would have left those woods, to begin your journey. No matter what happened, you would have been standing here someday, talking to me just as you are right now. _But_ . . . here is where the paths of fate diverge, Link. You have left your childhood behind, and now you begin a new part of your life. It is time to awaken from your slumber, and become what you were meant to be."

Link wasn't sure how to respond to that. Was he implying that it was _fate_ that he was being sent on this mission by the Great Deku Tree? That such destiny was being applied to _him,_of all people?

"Who are you?" Link asked again, still coming to grips with what he was being told.

"Hm," the owl hooted. "A long time ago, back when I had a different shape, I was called Kaepora Gaebora." He paused as Link digested the name. "I'll be here to help you in your journey, Link," he added. "If you think you ever need guidance, look to the sky!" With those words, the strange owl took to the sky, his great wings beating the air as he ascended into the open blue vastness. Link watched him fly away toward the horizon, the bird's words echoing in his ears.

* * *

Though Link had been quite gifted when it came to exploring the forest, this new landscape was disorienting, even if spectacular. He knew that the castle he was supposed to be searching for was located to the north, and so he kept going in that direction, keeping his head above the swaying green and golden grasses. Navi darted overhead, keeping an eye open for the young Kokiri as he worked his way across the field. They moved along for over an hour, but amidst the rolling hills and the tall grass, Link was having some difficulty keeping his bearings.

As the sun rose, Link finally got a bit of good news: Navi had spotted a small group of trees growing atop a hill, less than a mile away. With his fairy guardian guiding him, he hurried toward the trees, knowing their height would give him a valuable vantage point to see more of the immense lands he was wandering. His short legs carried him through the fields, and soon he was beneath the comforting shade of the little grove. Link idly wondered how the seeds had come out this far from the main forest as he scrambled up the side of the largest trunk. Within moments he was most of the way up the side of the tree and was peering through its leaves at his surroundings.

What he saw disheartened him. As far as he could see, there was nothing but the vast fields of grass, stretching to the distant horizon. He could see for miles, but with the exception of a few distant groups of trees far on the horizon, there was nothing to break the golden landscape. Frowning, Link continued looking, hoping for a landmark he could follow, rather than just wandering to the north, and his hopes were answered when he caught sight of a distant gap in the grassy fields - what looked to be a road, moving through the tall grass.

_All roads lead somewhere,_ he thought to himself as he clambered back down the tree, and the Kokiri and his fairy started moving through the fields, directly for the gap in the field. With Navi keeping him on the path through the shoulder-high grass, Link eventually broke free of the looming field and stood on a simple dirt road. A quick check of the sun's position overhead told him that it ran roughly from the west to the north.

With a tired sigh, Link sat down at the edge of the road, pulling out his waterskin and taking a much-needed sip, before munching on some of the berries and fruits he had saved from his home.

"I wonder if they have anything good to eat out here?" the Kokiri mused, glancing up to his friend.

"Well, first we're going to have to find someplace with food," Navi replied, flitting about above him. The tireless fairy was keeping an eye out across the field for any signs of life or civilization.

"Yeah, " he added, sitting back and peering up at the open sky. "I didn't think Hyrule was going to be this big, or hard to find our way around." At least in the forest, Link could rely on an endless number of unique landmarks; every tree was different in its own way, and thus he was able to tell exactly where he was no matter where he had been in the woods. But out here there was nothing but grass and hills for miles, and without this road there would have been no way to tell how far they had gone.

After a few minutes of resting, the Kokiri wearily stood up, and dusted himself off.

"Let's see where this goes," he muttered, more to himself than to Navi, and the pair started up the trail.

* * *

They sniffed the air near the edge of the woods, and at the same moment, the ears on both of their heads flattened. They knew that smell, and had been tracking it all night, from the Sacred Forest Meadow onward. It smelled like one of the forest children, and its trail had eventually returned to the village, which they wisely avoided, and then a new, fresh path had traced out to the far north. They had followed it eagerly, and now, as the sun continued its morning ascent, they had found the forest child had fled the woods and traveled into the open fields.

With anticipatory snarls, the pair of beasts searched the area at the edge of the woods until they found the trail again, and started off, their shaggy, canine bodies parting the thick grass as they loped across the vast fields. Saliva dripped down their jaws as they thought of the hunt and the kill.

Their master had ordered them to keep an eye on the woods, but this one had slain one of their brothers, and the Kokiri Sword had been taken. Though the Deku Tree was dead, this was a . . . _complication._

Their master had no love for complications.

* * *

Another hour passed as the pair of travelers continued up the road. Link guessed that they had put in quite a bit of good time, but he still had no idea how long it would take to get to the castle, or even where it was. He'd been able to cut across much of the forest in a day's time before, but this vast meadow was immense, and they saw no end in sight over the high grass.

Link paused again to take another drink and eat a few more berries, and as he sat beside the road, he thought he could hear a distant _clop-clop_ sound, accompanied by a very, very faint, soft rumbling. As the Kokiri sat there, the two sounds continued to grow, and he looked around, his keen ears telling him that the sounds were coming from _down_ the road, behind him. He looked back, and could see a pair of dark shapes steadily closing, what looked like huge creatures walking up the road toward him.

The young Kokiri was happy to hear and see something else alive out in this huge field, but he was also cautious, having never seen these creatures before. As they drew closer, he could see that there was something behind them, what looked like a giant version of the wheelbarrows the Kokiri used to ferry wood around their village. Sitting atop this cart was another towering figure.

As the creatures pulling the cart drew closer, Link found himself staring up at them, amazed by their size. They were nearly three times his height, and had a quartet of huge, long legs, with elongated faces and thin, short hair on their hides. The boy's heart stirred as he saw the proud animals, amazed by their majesty and strength as they easily pulled the giant cart behind them.

"Whoa!" called the figure commanding the animals, atop his cart, as he spotted Link. At the command, the majestic beasts came to a halt, letting their master have a better look at the boy beside the road. The man - for he had to be what the Deku Tree had described as "adults" in his stories - was cald in a red shirt and a set of blue overalls. He looked over the small Kokiri boy quizzically, furrowing huge, black bushy brows. A hand rose to scratch the beard on his chin, growing as thick as any grove of forest trees, and then the man gave Link the hugest smile he had ever seen.

"What's a little boy like you doing all this way out?" he asked, his voice deep, booming, and friendly. Link's apprehension vanished at the disarming tone, and he stood up, smiling instinctively. His gaze turned as he caught sight of movement inside the cart itself, which was laden with boxes and crates, and a face poked over the cart's contents. Bright blue eyes and vivid red hair belonged to the face of the girl, surprised and very curious at the encounter.

"I'm heading north, toward the castle," Link explained, looking back toward the huge man, and the smile on the cart driver's face grew even wider.

"Well, hey, that's where we're going too!" he exclaimed. "Its miles and miles north of here, boy, and its gonna take days for you to get there on foot. You look exhausted, want a lift to Castle Town?" Link blinked, surprised at the man's charity toward a complete stranger, before nodding. He ran around to the back of the cart, noting the letters painted on the weathered wood. They were blockier than the script that the Kokiri used, but the letters were recognizable, reading as "Lon Lon Ranch."

He clambered up into the back of the ranch, and found himself facing the same curious, red-haired girl, who was sitting on top of some crates. From this angle, he could see that she was wearing a simple white dress with blue trim, and sandals. She couldn't have been much older than Link himself. As he finished climbing into the cart, she gave him a smile to rival the cart driver's, and Link felt the same infectious feeling of happiness wash over him that he got whenever Saria would smile at him.

"Hi!" she said as he sat down on another crate. Inside the boxes, Link could see glass jars filled with sloshing white liquid. The cart's driver snapped the reins in his hands, and the huge animals guiding the cart started forward once again.

"Uh, hi," he replied, wondering if she was treated the same as the big man driving the cart. He wasn't used to being around larger people, so the outside world might have different customs. What had the Deku Tree told him, about "adults" and "children"?

"I'm Malon," she offered, extending a small, slender hand. He took it, shaking hands with her, and noted the surprising strength in her arms. She was as strong as any Kokiri girl.

"Link," he replied. Malon repeated his name, rolling it over in her mouth for a moment, before smiling and nodding. With a gesture from her head, she indicated the cart driver.

"That's my dad, Talon," she explained. "We run a ranch west of here. Today's our weekly milk delivery to Hyrule Castle. You're lucky we ran into each other today!"

"I guess I am," Link said with a grin. The Great Deku Tree's lessons on the ways of outsiders were coming back now, and he thought he remembered that Hylians were supposed to bear children, much like the Deku Tree had borne the Kokiri. So, in that case, Talon was to Malon what the Deku Tree had been to Link . . . .

As Malon was speaking, Link felt movement in his cap, and the girl's eyes trailed up past his face. Link glanced up, and realized from the azure glow that Navi had emerged from the brim of his cap, looking around.

"You didn't tell me we had visitors," she muttered, slightly grumpy. Before Link could apologize, Malon let out a squeal of surprised delight.

"Is that a fairy?" she exclaimed, and he nodded. At the vigorous head motion, Navi flew up out of his cap, muttering in irritation. Malon looked over Link again, and sudden understanding spread over her features. "Oooh, now I get it! That's why you're out this far! You're from the forest, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Link replied with a shrug. "Today's the first day I spent outside the woods, so . . . ."

"Tell me about the forest," Malon exclaimed, leaning forward. "You have to tell me about it! I've never seen any forest kids before!"

"Umm, okay," Link said, surprised at the excited girl's demands. He settled back, and started telling her about what it was like inside the forest, beginning with how different it was from the massive open fields they were rolling through. Navi settled back down into his cap as they continued up the road toward Hyrule Castle.

* * *

They paused beneath the small group of trees on the hilltop, sniffing the air. With quiet growls, they moved around the tiny grove, before reacquiring the scent.

They started off again down the trail, bursting through the grass, growling in anticipation. The scent was fresh.

They sensed the kill coming, and they sped up, eager to do their master's will and get a good meal in the bargain.

* * *

The sun had just passed its peak, and they had ridden for hours. During that time, Link had recounted life in the forest. He told of living in and navigating among the endless trees, or the carefree life of the Kokiri people, of dancing and playing with the forest spirits, with the Great Deku Tree always watching over them. He recounted how he'd always gotten into fights with Mido over his lack of a fairy, and how Saria was always getting between them before they could tear each other apart.

Link deliberately left out the painful memories of the Great Deku Tree's last hours, and the battle he'd fought inside the guardian sprit's heart. He wasn't sure who he could tell that story to; even though Malon and her father were nice people, he didn't want to get them involved in the quest that the Great Deku Tree had sent him on. As he spoke, Link instinctively reached inside one of his pouches, making sure the Kokiri Emerald was safe and secure, and as he did so, his fingers brushed Saria's ocarina.

The boy trailed off as he took the instrument out and looked over it, remembering his last glimpse of his friend before he'd run off, torn between staying with her and his mission.

"Oooh, that's a pretty ocarina!" Malon exclaimed, and he glanced up at her, seeing her eyes fixed on Saria's handiwork.

"Saria gave it to me when I wanted to leave," he explained with a shrug, as the wagon bounced over a bump in the road. "She said she wanted me to remember her, and figured that an ocarina would be best to remember her by. She was always the one playing music at festivals." Link chuckled. "I'm not even that good at playing it," he admitted.

"Don't tell yourself that," Malon replied, looking up toward the clouds above. "If you don't think you can do something, you won't be able to. I told myself I couldn't sing well, but my mom kept insisting I had a beautiful voice. When she went away, I tried singing her favorite songs to remember her by, and I got really good at it. You should try." A smile fell over her face. "Dad always says that 'Kids have got their whole lives ahead of them, and they should do what they want without being afraid!' And I think he's right."

_Do what I want?_ Link thought to himself. He followed Malon's gaze to the sky. But what about destiny? That crazy talking owl had sounded like he was speaking to Link's heart, but now . . . .

Link's musing was suddenly cut off as a bone-chilling sound cut across the field, and his heart skipped a beat. The echoing howl resounded over the grass, and Link shot to his feet. Navi burst from the brim of his cap, alerted by the familiar and dangerous sound.

"Wolfos!" both Link and Navi shouted. Both Kokiri and fairy glanced to one another for an instant, before the boy grabbed his sword off his shoulder. Malon's eyes widened as she saw the gleaming blade, small but deadly, held in his hands, and they grew wider as he pulled the shield off his back and affixed it to his right arm. He peered out across the field, and saw the gleaming eyes of the advancing beasts, vicious and evil, and saw the same light he'd seen in the Sacred Forest Meadow.

"Link, what are you-" she began to say, when the Kokiri leapt off the back of the cart, his eyes blazing with anger.

There was no doubt in his mind that these Wolfos were like the one he had killed yesterday, and were servants of the sorcerer who had killed the Great Deku Tree. Link fully intended to pay them back for what they had done to him and the forest. In the back of his mind, Link also knew that he had to protect Malon and her father; this Wolfos attack was no coincidence, and he knew that they were coming here because he had _led_ the beasts this way. He would not let either Malon or Talon be hurt because of him.

"Navi, watch out for me!" Link shouted as he saw the two charging beasts, cutting through the grass. He plunged into the grass, intending to meet the monsters head-on. Navi chased after him, remaining above her charge and watching both monsters intently.

The Wolfos closed with frightening speed, but Link didn't back down. His fingers tightened around his sword's handle, and then they met. One of the Wolfos leapt up into the air, clearing the grass completely, and dropped toward the Kokiri. Link skidded to a halt and raised his shield instinctively. The canine beast crashed headlong into Link, crushing him to the ground and shuddering the sturdy Deku Shield. Beast and Kokiri rolled, and the Wolfos leapt away into the grass.

"Link, here!" came Navi's shout as the battered boy rolled to his feet. He heard her voice, followed her sound, and pivoted as he caught sight of the blue light of his guardian, rushing toward him. The second Wolfos, which had flanked the Kokiri, burst through the grass beneath Navi, straight for Link. The Deku Shield met its snapping jaws as Link raised it from his kneeling position. Link fell back under the monster's weight, throwing the shield above him and launching the Wolfos into the air with its own momentum.

The Kokiri Sword stabbed up as the Wolfos passed, and the awkward blow struck the passing beast's leg. It howled in pain as black fire burst from the wound, and Link, his heart surging and adrenaline filling every vein and muscle, shot to his feet. Letting out a battle yell that belied his tiny frame, the Kokiri leapt at the wounded Wolfos, sword stabbing at its backside. The small blade dug in, and the injured beast howled in agony. Link recoiled from the power of the beast's scream, his eardrums complaining, and barely managed to raise his shield as the beast lashed out with one arm. The claws bounced off the sturdy wood, barely leaving a scratch in the thick and solid bark, but Link was knocked back off his feet.

"Behind you!" came Navi's shout, and Link coiled his legs beneath him and dove aside, as a snapping maw dove through the grass and nearly took his arm off. The first Wolfos, returning with a vengeance, whirled in place as its partner turned and fled into the grass, black fire leaking from its wounds. The unharmed monster pounced at Link, claws leading. Link raised his shield to defend himself, but in his left hand, between index and middle finger, he grasped something else.

Link's sword hand shot down, and he shielded his eyes as the Deku Nut shattered and released a blinding flash of light. The leaping Wolfos was blinded by the unexpected strike, and could only flail its arms wildly as Link stabbed up with his sword. The blade bit into one of the monster's arms, tearing it open, and the Wolfos rolled across the ground, howling in pain. It spun toward the Kokiri, stars filling its vision as it caught his scent and lashed out with both claws.

Those claws met only the unyielding wood of the forest, and a moment later the sacred sword of the Kokiri slashed down, taking the Wolfos' right arm off above the elbow.

Before it could register the actual pain of losing its limb, Link snapped the sword back, and with another vengeful battlecry, he thrust the blade home into the Wolfos' chest. The forest blade bit into the monster's torso, burying into its heart. Black fire burst over its body, immolating the Wolfos where it stood, and the Kokiri tore his blade free. The Wolfos fell to the grass, its body collapsing into ash and cinders as it hit the dirt.

"Navi!" Link shouted, spinning. "Where's the other one?" He looked over the grass frantically, searching for his other opponent.

"Its running," Navi replied, flitting over his head. "It ran off to the west, and hasn't turned back. I think you scared it off." Link frowned, and then nodded grudgingly, angered that he hadn't gotten a chance to kill both of them.

Talon had stopped the cart, and both he and Malon were watching their young passenger intently. They hadn't seen much of the actual fighting, instead simply watching grass fly and the Kokiri and Wolfos' heads over the swaying fields of green. Link trudged back, and heard Malon cheering at his victory.

"Well, we know this boy isn't armed with toys, now!" Talon remarked as Link climbed back onto the cart. The Kokiri blushed, embarrassed. He realized what that impulsive attack must have looked like to the farmers. "And he ain't armed with much common sense either! A little kid like you, fightin' off forest beasts like that? Got a brave streak in you a mile wide!"

"Maybe that's why you're heading to Hyrule Castle," Malon added, teasing Link. "Are you going to join the Hylian Knights?"

"Nah," Talon remarked with a hearty laugh. "He's got too many guts for those sissies! Though that would be a sight to see: Hyrule's first four-foot-tall Knight!"

Embarrassed as he was, even Link managed a laugh at that. If all Hylian adults were as big as Talon, the Hylian Knights must be a mighty force indeed. He wondered what good a little Kokiri like himself could do for Hyrule, with so many huge and doubtless better and braver warriors in the Hylian army. He just had a wooden shield and a blade that felt tiny, even in his hands.

Link looked out across the field, where the surviving Wolfos had fled, and a faint kernel of worry began to make itself known. He suspected that it had been a mistake to let the wounded Wolfos escape, and wondered what lay ahead. If the enemy really was hunting him like this, what would lay in store for Link in the future?

* * *

-

* * *

I was surprised I was able to do so much in what was essentially a chapter involving Link walking across Hyrule Field. Seven thousand words for five minutes of gameplay.

Obviously, one thing I'm working on is making these initial chapters clearly show how much Link is delving into a much larger and wider world. A big thing we never saw in Ocarina was that Link never really expressed true wonder or surprise at his surroundings; he blended fairly well with the people of Hyrule, which was to be expected from a gameplay standpoint. I want to touch a bit more on his sense of wonderment and awe as he explores Hyrule and encounters all the new people and places. After all, one great part of playing any Zelda game is exploring the world presented to you.

Another thing I was hitting for in this chapter is an expansion on Link's fighting style. I've got several ideas for how Link adapts and fights planned out, with certain specific styles and techniques to indicate each stage of his progression. For example, when he's a child, his style will be different from when he grows up and has different swords and shields. For those of you who've read my Final Fantasy 8 material, well . . . let's just say that Squall and Link will be drawing a little from the same source when it comes to their overall style, though as Link uses a sword and shield together, he'll also be drawing a bit from _another_ cinematic source . . . one which involves the shouting of city-states' names and kicking messengers down wells :P. I will add that young Link's style is based around a very specific (and for the people who designed it, very effective) style that fits for how he fights in his youth. I'll let you guys figure out what that style is on your own.

Until next chapter . . . .


	6. Chapter V: The Princess

**__**

Chapter V: The Princess

A soft melody stretched across the fields of Hyrule, a haunting but uplifting tone, carried by the wind and ushered along by the swaying grasses of the meadows. It was the piercing yet distinct sound of a child's singing, long and drawn out notes echoing through the sunny hills and pastures of the land. Accompanying the vocal melody were the equally haunting, airy cries of an ocarina, seeming hesitant and subdued behind the confident song of the child. They played loosely in time, neither voice nor ocarina fitting a distinct rhythm, and the two songs overlapped and complimented each other, the harmony of their sounds as a peaceful and drifting melody that calmed and brightened any whose ears it touched.

Malon slowly allowed her song to die down after a long while, the red-haired farm girl looking up at the blue sky and passing clouds as she did so. Beside her, Link lowered the ocarina from his lips, and Talon, still driving the horses at the front of the cart, let out a quiet sigh of both contentment and regret as the music faded.

"I thought you said you couldn't play well," Malon remarked, and Link shrugged, surprised at himself, really. While he had played instruments before at Kokiri festivals and parties, he had never fancied himself an expert at them. Saria was so much better than he, especially with an ocarina. Then again, that may have been the problem with his perception of his own skills; the Great Deku Tree had said that even the small and wondrous light of the firefly could be drowned out if close to a blazing fire.

"Back home I'd play sometimes," he answered after a moment, following Malon's gaze. "Saria would teach me how to play, and she was always the best in the village at music."

"Do you know any Kokiri songs?" Malon asked. It was rhetorical, really; what kind of Kokiri was Link if he didn't know any songs of his people? He nodded, and thought for a moment about the one song Saria liked to play with her ocarina, the melody that she had tried to teach him a while back. After a moment, Link raised the ocarina to his lips and began to play, slowly remembering the notes of the tune.

_Remember, Link,_ she had told him, and her voice echoed in his mind as he tried to play her song._ Its not getting the sounds of the song right, so much as it is getting the _soul_ and the _feel_ of the song. For music, everyone is a little different, and so is every song. You have to play a song your way, and not try to mimic someone else's, because the song is different in every person's heart._

He let Saria's song play through the ocarina, but it was Link's hands and heart that expressed the melody. It flowed out of his ocarina, a deeper and richer tune than the light and airy song he and Malon had played. The forest itself seemed to flow out of the song as he let himself play it, and he could remember the woods with amazing clarity as he played. His eyes closed as the notes and sounds echoed across the field, and he found his thoughts dancing through the trees and his village, and for an instant, he thought he could see Saria's face-

"There's the walls!" came Talon's shout, and it jolted Link out of his song. He turned and looked over the big man's head, and his jaw dropped in awe. From the back of the cart, he and Malon had been facing the way they had come, and so the spires and towers of Hyrule Castle itself had been hidden as they played and sang. Now he actually _saw_ it, and was amazed by what stretched before and above him.

The first thing he saw were the spires, the pointed tops of the towers, stabbing up into the sky, ten times the height of the Great Deku Tree himself. Solid gray and white stone reached up into the air, and emerged from an immense stone building greater than any he had ever seen. Link had seen the ancient, vine-covered Forest Temple before, but this vast building overshadowed any of the simple houses or structures that the Kokiri had ever seen in his lifetime. The sheer size and majesty of the building made the Kokiri feel even smaller than he already was in the oversized realm.

And, he realized a moment later, the building was still _miles_ away.

Beside him, Malon was giggling at the boy's amazed expression.

"Yep, that's Hyrule Castle," she explained. "Just about everyone who's seen it for the first time has that same reaction."

Link stared at the castle for a while longer, entranced by something so huge and massive, and slowly lowered his eyes toward the land surrounding the castle. The building itself stood atop a vast hill, and surrounding the area around the castle was a huge, solid wall of stone. The Kokiri could barely see the tops of buildings inside the wall, all dwarfed by the specter of the vast castle, but for Link, they seemed to further pound into him the sheer size of the architecture and how tiny he really was.

Talon continued guiding the cart for a while, the castle and the walls growing ever larger. Link never took his eyes off the city as they approached, taking in every detail. This was so new and so different to his forest sensibilities, and his fascination kept his eyes locked to the immense stone buildings.

As they drew nearer, Link could see that a large river cut in front of the wall they were approaching, and a long drawbridge spanned the gap. The Kokiri could see figures walking along the top of the wall and standing at the bridge itself, and all were clad in shining steel and carrying heavy, wide metal shields that made Link's own feel like a toy. Long pikes and halberds were in each man's hand, and at their sides were longswords in immaculate sheathes, and every man wore a metal helm with raised visors. Each man bore a painted standard on his plate armor or shield, a trio of golden triangles joined to form a greater triangle.

The wagon closed on the drawbridge, and Talon raised a hand, waving to the soldiers. With wide smiles, they waved back, or raised their pikes in salute, clearly familiar with the rancher and his milk deliveries. Though the friendly greetings of the smiling, good-hearted soldiers cheered Link, the boy was still awed by the armored men. For the Kokiri, who had never seen much metal or worked stone in his life, these soldiers of Hyrule seemed like immense, invulnerable titans.

The wagon passed beneath the archway, and Link entered the city of Hyrule itself. Tall buildings rose up all around him as they moved up the main road, and for an instant Link felt like he was back in the forest again, on one of the trails threading through the wood. However, the trees here were immense stone buildings, and the trail was a wide cobbled path instead of dirt and grass. Though the stone itself lacked the life of the wooden forest, the city bustled with life, unlike anything Link had ever seen. On all sides of the cart were people, huge and immense like Talon himself, clad in bright clothing and coming in all shapes and sizes.

"Wow," he whispered, looking around, taking in the sights and sounds and scents of the city with an amazed relish. He'd never seen this many people before, not even when the whole of his village would assemble for meetings or festivals. The hustle and bustle was almost overwhelming, and the Kokiri was glad he was in the cart, for he feared that if he had come into town on foot he would have rapidly been lost among the huge Hylians.

"So, you're heading for Hyrule Castle," Malon commented, tearing his attention away from the crowds and the buildings. Link nodded, and looked past the high rooftops and toward the immense towers and keep that made up the castle itself.

"Yeah, I . . ." Link paused. "I have a message for the . . . Princess?" The title seemed strange and foreign to Link, and he spoke it cautiously, making sure he got the pronunciation right.

"Oh, you're here to meet the Princess herself?" Malon replied, her crimson hair bouncing wildly. Link nodded at her question.

"Its gonna be a tough time getting in there," Talon called from the front of the wagon. "I heard the Gerudo were showing up from the western deserts to meet the King. Guards and soldiers will be everywhere, kid, and I don't think they're just gonna let a little boy in the castle without a real good reason."

"Well, I do have a good reason," Link replied, but then paused, understanding. Though his mission was of the utmost importance, it would be hard for a Kokiri, barely topping most Hylian children, to convince the guards of his importance . . . especially considering that they probably had never seen one of his kind before.

Still, Link was determined to not let such things get in his way. The Deku Tree had given him a mission, after all, and he wasn't going to let anyone stop him, not even the huge and invincible soldiers of Hyrule.

The heavy cart rolled down the stone road and into a huge open area in what seemed like the heart of the Hylian city. Hundreds of brightly-clad people rushed and ambled across the city square, and dozens of stalls and booths and shops lined the stone clearing. At the heart of the square was an immense fountain, spraying water high into the air. Link stared at the structure for a moment, amazed by the engineering of these tall people, and then the cart came to a halt.

"This is where we get off!" Talon called back, and started to climb off the cart, which had stopped next to an empty booth. The big man circled around the cart as Link climbed off, and the huge Hylian clapped the Kokiri across his shoulders.

"Thanks for the ride into town," he offered the big man, to which Talon began laughing profusely.

"It was my pleasure!" he replied. "If it weren't for you, I would have been stuck listening to my daughter yammering on nonstop the whole way about nothing!"

"Dad!" Malon growled, planting her fists against her hips and glaring at her father, causing both Hylian and Kokiri to laugh at her expression. As the two ranchers began to offload the milk cartons and set up their booth, Link bid them a fond farewell, and started off across the square toward the immense castle rising up above the city.

Within minutes, the young Kokiri had disappeared into the crowds of immense Hylians, dodging between their legs and doggedly moving toward the north, and the "Princess of destiny" that lay beyond.

* * *

"The people of Hyrule welcome you, King Ganondorf," spoke the tall, blond man in the regal robes and tall, elegant crown of Hyrule's Royal Family. The King, whose lineage bore the same name as his kingdom, looked down from his high throne to the red-haired, dark-skinned man that bowed before him, in the custom of his own people. At over seven feet in height, clad in jet-black armor of shadow, and with a wide brown cape embroidered with Gerudo symbols, the King of the Gerudo cut a powerful and intimidating figure, which made his motion to drop to one knee even more pronounced. Heavy boots, thick leather gloves, and amethyst gems were present on his body, including one large yellow stone that rested on his forehead as part of a thin chain crown, just above his dark yellow eyes and long, narrow nose.

"There is no need to kneel at my feet, King Ganondorf," the ruler of Hyrule spoke. After a moment's hesitation, the red-haired Gerudo stood, and King Hyrule himself rose as well.

"Come with me, King," Hyrule proclaimed with a smile as he gestured toward one of the doors flanking his throne room. The Gerudo nodded and followed the regal King as he moved toward the doors. "While the throne room is the place to conduct official business, I prefer to get outside, especially when talking frankly with equals."

"A king of Hyrule, speaking to a Gerudo as an equal?" Ganondorf remarked as they passed through the doorway. A slight smile covered the dark-skinned man's lips as he and the leader of Hyrule stepped out into a lush garden.

"I view all leaders of the tribes and nations around me as equals," Hyrule replied with a nod. He turned and began walking up a series of steps, leading toward one of the towers flanking the main keep of the castle. "Some of them I view as more than mere equals, but as partners and allies."

"Indeed," Ganondorf said as they reached the top of the steps, and stood atop a tall balcony overlooking the city. "There is a great deal of trouble when it comes to getting different groups of people to cooperate. The Gerudo tribes are very unruly without a strong leader."

"Fortunately, your peoples' traditions make your task easier," Hyrule replied with a smile. Ganondorf chuckled as he looked out over the city.

"You have to understand, King Hyrule, that the Gerudo people come to you in peace," Ganondorf explained after a moment. "I am aware that you have always had problems with Gerudo raiders and bandits along our mutual borders, and the challenging time after your civil war caused you a great deal of grief. I wish to make amends."

"A treaty of friendship with the Gerudo would be welcome," King Hyrule said, nodding. "Perhaps even an alliance of sorts, though I would be hesitant, considering the bad blood between your people and mine. My people are loyal, but my soldiers may balk at the idea of standing shoulder to shoulder with fierce Gerudo warriors."

"And mine may not wish to protect your ponderous armored knights," Ganondorf said with a grin. King Hyrule laughed lightly at that, and then gestured to the east of his city, at the distant mountain ranges.

"Part of our great strength is our ancient alliances," Hyrule explained. "Though Hyrule's territory is large and we have many well-trained knights and soldiers, our greatest strength is that we have strong allies to back us in times of war and peace. The Gorons of Death Mountain are one of our strongest allies, as are the Zora peoples who swim in our lakes and rivers. Some of our people even pass around stories that the forests and trees bless us as well! Thus it is that Hyrule is strengthened by the power of all who dwell within and around it."

King Hyrule shook his head, and turned toward Ganondorf.

"The Gerudo Desert is one border I have always feared, because we had no allies to watch that land," he admitted. "But to see you here, coming to me with an offering of peace and friendship, brings a great relief to my heart."

"We wish only for peace," Ganondorf added, bowing his head slightly.

"Indeed," Hyrule answered, smiling with great warmth. "Come. We shall speak with my ministers and nobles, and get this peace treaty sorted out."

* * *

Using the immense towers as his guide, Link navigated the roads leading through the north of the castle town, and within half an hour he was walking along a dirt path that led out of the northern districts and into the grassy, wooded grounds surrounding the royal keep. The numbers of people began to thin, and Link found himself alone on the worn dirt road. His senses began to heighten as he left the hustle and bustle behind and entered more familiar grounds; now that he was near the castle itself, he was doubtless going to have to worry about the guards and soldiers protecting the royal family. Link knew that he would now have to rely on remaining unseen.

Being sneaky was nothing new for Link. Living in the forest and hunting animals (and other Kokiri in lighter times) required talent at keeping out of sight and staying silent. Best of all, the grounds of Hyrule Castle were open and had the one thing Link needed to stay hidden: foliage.

"Navi, stay out of sight," he murmured to the fairy, who bobbed, and ducked into the folds of his floppy cap. The last thing he would need would be a glittering blue light drawing everyone's attention.

The approach to Hyrule Castle itself was well-guarded, with dozens of Hylian soldiers standing at the outer gate blocking the path leading to the main castle itself. Dozens more stood guard along the road and patrolled along the walls. Fortunately, the guards were positioned and watching for someone the size of an adult. An appraisal of the area showed that the gate was set into a path that had been dug out of a larger hill, with sheer walls on either side of the path, obviously intended to make for tight, easily guarded choke points. The path curved around the majority of the hill, which had been converted into a huge, open-air garden and meadow; Link realized that the set-up had clearly been intended to be very defensible, allowing Hylian soldiers to stand atop the main hill and strike at attackers with ease. The walls along the sides of the path were sheer, but here and there a vine or root would poke out, and one of them was large enough that it could support Link's paltry weight. Even better, it was hidden around a bend from the majority of the guard patrols. The Kokiri waited until no one was watching, and he scrambled up the hanging vine and onto the hill overlooking the gate.

Now was the time for real discretion. Link laid down in the high grass on top of the hill and kept his eyes open for patrolling guards. A full squadron of Hylian soldiers were standing atop the gate, spears and shields at the ready, but they barely gave a passing glance to the hill Link stood upon, apparently content that no one would be able to scale up without being seen. That was true enough; if he had been a few inches taller, Link would have had a hard time hiding in the grass, let alone being light enough to climb up the side of the wall. Keeping low, the Kokiri belly-crawled across the hill, slowly bypassing the guards walking the gate and keeping as far from them as possible. Within a few minutes he was past them, and edged toward the side of the hill.

Behind the gate, the walls were far less steep, but now he had a new problem: Hylian soldiers were patrolling the road curving around the hill and leading to the main castle. There were a _lot_ of them, too; the Kokiri counted dozens of vigilant men marching up and down the road, eyes open behind the slits in their visors.

Fortunately, they weren't patrolling the area immediately behind the gate. Link moved to the edge of the hill, just above the road, and checked the guards at the gate, to see that they were still watching the road, talking quietly to one another. Taking a deep breath, Link dropped off the hill and landed in the middle of the road. Stepping with the light grace that only ones raised in the Lost Woods would have had, the Kokiri was across the road in seconds, silent as the wind. He scrambled up the hill on the opposite side of the gate, and ducked into the grass.

Hylian troops were thick on this hill, but they were tall and walked easy-to-predict patrol routes, and Link was small and very skilled at avoiding detection in the tall grass and foliage of the meadow. As the soldiers moved around atop the hill, they never saw the faintest movement in the grass, or the boy whose clothes were indistinguishable from the plants he slipped among. Occasionally a guard would note a bit of motion in the grass itself, but he would pass it off as the wind and keep walking, never realizing that he had been looking directly at the stealthy Kokiri.

It had been nearly an hour since he had started his infiltration, and Link neared the other side of the hilltop meadow. He paused inside a small grove of trees on the west side of the hill, and peeked up, looking at the next leg of his intrusion. The castle itself was separated from the road and hill by a large moat and drawbridge, which was raised at the moment. Compared to the road, few guards patrolled the area around the moat, though there were no plants to hide in here, allowing them better lines of sight. However, they still followed predictable patrol routes, which left a few parts of the moat unwatched at brief moments. Link could also hear water flowing in the moat, and knew that it had to come from somewhere, especially if it was moving. Keeping out of sight, the Kokiri moved through the grass, looking for an entrance. In a couple of minutes, he soon saw a small, open drain along the edge of the moat; it was tiny, far too large even for a slender Gerudo to enter, but for little Link, it was perfect.

When the guards weren't looking, Link bolted out of the grass and dropped into the frigid moat water. It was clear and clean, so Link dove under to keep out of sight. The current of the water pushed him down the length of the moat, and he swam toward the far side of the channel. A couple of moments later, the Kokiri emerged, and found himself nearing the drain. As he passed beneath, Link raised his arms and grabbed the edge. His tiny arms pumping, the boy hauled himself up inside the drain and crawled inside.

It was dark and wet, as expected, but the drain was very short. In a few moments he emerged to find himself overlooking a small, knee-deep pool of water, inside the castle's walls; the drain was clearly intended to catch an overflow if it rained. The Kokiri climbed out of the dark and cramped passage and splashed across the small pool.

Now came the hard part: he had to find this Princess Zelda and convince her of who and what he was.

Link looked around, to see the area that he had wandered into was what looked like an internal garden within the castle's walls. Knee high grass, patches of yellow and white flowers, and tall rows of bushes filled the inner gardens, and the rustle and faint clank of metal armor told the Kokiri that guards were patrolling here as well.

"Huh," he muttered, scratching his chin. "Navi, this looks a little bit tougher than outside . . . ."

"The grass is a lot lower in here," she replied, barely poking her head out of the brim of the boy's long floppy hat. "Tighter quarters. Not as much room to move and hide." She emerged from the hat, looking around for a better view of their surroundings.

Link frowned as he agreed with her assessment; it would be harder to hide and evade guards in this kind of enclosed area. No one was nearby, but he would have to be very careful as he moved deeper into the castle, as he couldn't hide as easily in the low grass.

"Hey, Link!" Navi whispered, and he turned his attention to her voice, to see her hovering above an empty crate. The box was laying on its side and with the bottom open, big enough for the small Kokiri to hide in.

"Navi, that's brilliant," he whispered, and ran toward the box.

* * *

Agras' booted feet brushed along the grass as he walked, pike dipping slightly from its raised position in his hands. He kept looking around the garden, especially whenever Sergeant Mikos looked his way, but the footman was finding his attention drifting as he traced his patrol route. Unlike the gate and honor guards who protected the throne room, Agras was a regular soldier, and thus only wore light plate mail over his chest and a chainmail hauberk on his arms and legs, and carried only a sword and pike, with no shield.

He had to admit that right now, his job was fairly important, so he _should_ be keeping alert. There was the Gerudo delegation meeting with the King, but Agras actually doubted any assassin would try to make a shot that anyone as fearsome as Ganondorf and his cadre of female warrior-thieves. The more troubling possibility was that someone would use the shifting attention of the castle guard to make a strike at something more vulnerable, like another member of the royal family, such as the young Princess.

Agras sighed as he stepped around a crate someone had carelessly left in his patrol path. People were getting messy around here. The guard reminded himself that he would need to talk to the sergeant about the gardeners leaving stuff out in the open like that, especially when there were visiting nobles and heightened security everywhere.

Since the Princess loved the castle's gardens, her father had given explicit orders to have a guard detail covering all of them as long as the Gerudo were visiting; King Hyrule was a good man who assumed the best in everyone, but he didn't completely trust the Gerudo, no matter how many friendly words and kind gestures he made. _The Gerudo were to be watched at all times_, was the order, _and all sensitive areas of the castle and members of the royal family are to remain under guard._

Agras straightened as he remembered that order. He wasn't going to be lax in his observation and judgment, not at all.

_Not even a rat will slip past my notice,_ he told himself, and smiled, raising his pike. Maybe if he did a good enough job remaining vigilant, he would get a commendation, or even a promotion! Sergeant Agras . . . It had a nice ring to it . . . .

Agras paused as he doubled back on his patrol route, and scratched his chin with his free hand as he noticed something seemed off. He looked around for a few minutes, and considered calling Sergeant Mikos, because the Hylian soldier's instincts told him that _something_ was off about the garden now that he was retracing his route.

It took two circuits, careful ones with his eyes open, scanning for any inconsistencies, when Agras realized what was wrong: _that odd crate was missing_. The guard turned around, looking around the garden once again, and considered searching for the crate, but dismissed the notion. It probably wasn't anything weird - a gardener or other guard noticed it and moved it out of the way, maybe - and he shouldn't deviate from his patrol pattern. The other guards probably wouldn't want to be bothered with something as silly as a disappearing box anyway, especially with these Gerudo in the castle; besides, the box was way to small for even a slight Gerudo spy to fit inside.

With that rationalization complete, the guardsman resumed his patrol. Agras had a job to do, and he was going to protect this garden the best way he knew how: vigilance against real threats, not some phantoms in his head.

* * *

No one really paid attention to the small crate that appeared at the edge of their vision. The vigilant guards were keeping their eyes open for skulking shadows and assassins and thieves hiding in the bushes, and barely spared a glance at the unremarkable box that rested against the castle walls or seemed to have been haphazardly dumped behind a bush. Of the dozen soldiers patrolling the large inner garden, Agras was the only one to have actually _noticed_ the crate's disappearance, and that was only because the tiny feet propelling it had been foolish enough to cross his path the first time.

A hissed warning and admonishment from the fairy lurking in the Kokiri's cap had set Link straight, and he kept to the edges of the Garden, along the walls where crates were usually left, and only moved his innocuous shelter when no one was looking.

"So, where is this Princess?" he muttered quietly during one of their pauses.

"I don't know," Navi replied. "I have no idea if she's even out here."

"Well, great," Link whispered, getting agitated. "This box isn't perfect. Sooner or later someone's going to see this thing moving on its own, and I don't think very many crates have legs in Hyrule."

"Well, wandering around randomly like this will get us caught eventually anyway," Navi muttered. "Do you have a plan?"

"I thought you were the smart one," Link shot back. He scratched his chin as Navi muttered something under her breath, and the Kokiri smiled.

"Hey, Navi," he suggested, "Why don't you go scout around?"

"There aren't very many fairies in Hyrule Castle, Link," she replied. "I think someone might notice me."

"Less likely than a box with legs," he countered. "Plus, you're a lot faster. Just peek around the garden, so I don't go stumbling around like a blind Wolfos, okay?"

Navi muttered something Link couldn't hear, but slipped out of the crate when he raised one end just high enough for her to escape. As she departed Link settled back into his waiting position, and kept an eye out for any more patrolling guards.

It was a few minutes later when Link spotted an azure gleam outside his box, and he let Navi back inside once he was certain it was safe. The fairy shot back up into the safety of Link's cap.

"Okay, I looked around, and I _think_ I may have seen who we're looking for," she explained. "Go ahead from here until you reach a corner that turns to the right. There aren't any guards patrolling that area. Go down that way until you see a little courtyard over to the left. That's where I saw her."

"You don't know if that's the Princess?" Link asked.

"I'm about as lost as you are, around here," Navi answered in a huff. "Hurry up and get moving before we get noticed!"

Navi's directions were very accurate, and within a couple of minutes Link had worked his way through the guarded courtyard and down a secluded aisle of the inner gardens, where no soldiers were standing guard. He ditched the crate in an out of the way spot and moved down the lines of bushes until Navi told him to look to his left. The Kokiri spotted a stone doorway leading into a small but open courtyard. Link passed through the entrance, and stood on short, manicured green grass in a circular room, flowers rising all around him, and a small stream of flowing water around the outer edges of courtyard.

At the far end of the open garden was a figure, a blonde girl clad in white and pink robes and dress, of a far finer material than any Link had seen in the Kokiri Forest or beyond. She stood on a raised stone platform lined with potted flowers, peering through a window that opened into the main keep of the castle. After a moment's pause to take the area in, Link started to cross the courtyard.

For some reason, as he crossed the secluded garden, Link felt safe and alone, as if the rest of the castle had been shut out. There was only himself, Navi, and the girl in the pink and white dress ahead. He quietly crossed the garden, careful not to tread on the flowers at the center, and approached the steps, hesitant to speak. He waited there for a moment, and as he finally made his decision to start ascending, the girl glanced back. She caught sight of Link and turned to face him, her eyes widening in surprise at the Kokiri who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Link could see the shock in her blue eyes, and for a moment, he was taken aback at her beauty; having been surrounded by children all his life, he had no other standard to really judge a woman by, and by Kokiri standards the girl was striking.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice echoing the surprise on her face. "How did you get past the guards?" Her inflection was odd, clipped and formal, and not the drawling speech of the ranchers or the laughing accent of the Kokiri.

Before Link could reply to her question, her eyes caught the glittering blue light floating above his head. Her eyes widened, but now in recognition as well as surprise, and she looked back to Link, wonderment on her face.

"A fairy," she whispered, and looked over his clothing and gear. Link instinctively knew that the girl was connecting his clothes to the woods the same way that Malon had, and was unsurprised by her next question.

"Then . . . You're from the forest, aren't you?" Link nodded, and the girl's expression momentarily became distant, as if recalling something. It was only for an instant, and she looked back to Link, hope appearing on her face.

"Then . . . ." she hesitated for a moment, as if afraid to ask. "Do you have the Spiritual Stone of the Forest? The Kokiri Emerald?" Link blinked at the question, wondering how she knew about the stone he carried.

"Yes," he answered after a second, and reached into his pouch. His hand came back holding the green emerald that the Great Deku Tree had entrusted him with. The stone gleamed with an inner light, playing over the girl's face, and she started laughing in happiness as she saw it. It sounded like fine bells, and Link enjoyed her laugh - it reminded him of Saria's.

"I knew it!" she said. "Father didn't believe me, but I knew it meant something!" Link blinked, confused, and she reached for the stone. "May I?" The Kokiri wanted to refuse, but he found himself relaxing in this girl's presence, and his instincts were telling him that he could trust her. He let her take the Kokiri Emerald, and she lifted it up to her face, peering into the stone's shining depths.

"I had a dream," she whispered, tearing her gaze away from the stone's beauty. "In that dream, I saw dark storm clouds stretching across Hyrule, consuming everything with an evil power." She looked away, tracing down the paths of memory. "But suddenly, a ray of golden light shot out of the forest, and pierced the storm clouds, driving them away. That ray then struck the ground, and took on the shape of a person, who was followed by a blue fairy and held a shining green stone." Her hand extended, returning the stone to Link.

"My father didn't believe me, but I knew this was a prophecy that someone would come from the forest," she said as he took the Emerald back, nodding as she spoke. Her foresight was making a lot more sense now, and the Great Deku Tree had been right to send him here. As Link pocketed the Spiritual Stone, the girl let out a gasp of surprise.

"Oh, I can't believe how rude I've been," she said, her words making Link confused once again. "I didn't even introduce myself." Her head dipped forward in a slight, formal bow.

"I am Zelda, Princess of the Kingdom of Hyrule." Link felt he should have been surprised to learn the girl really _was_ the princess he was seeking, but was honestly not. The prophetic dream alone told him that he had found who he was looking for.

"So, what is your name?" Zelda asked him, curiosity in her eyes.

"I'm Link," he replied. He gestured toward the fairy floating above him. "And this is Navi." Zelda smiled as he spoke, nodding.

"Those names . . . ." she shook her head. "They sound . . . oddly familiar." Zelda paused, thinking, and finally nodded. "Did the Great Deku Tree send you here?" Link nodded, biting his lower lip as the memory came back.

"The Deku Tree was cursed," Link explained quietly, not wanting to be reminded of the guardian spirit's death so soon. "He's . . . dead. Before he died, he gave me the stone and told me to find you, that it was my destiny to meet you."

"The Great Deku Tree is dead?" Zelda gasped, covering her mouth with a hand. "That's . . . no, that _does_ make sense. I knew we couldn't trust him." She paused, as if finally hearing the last part of what Link said, and furrowed her brow.

"The Deku Tree is . . . _was_ wise in all things," she said after a moment, and finally nodded. "If what he said was true, and I have no doubt that it should be, then that, and my dreams, and all that has been happening lately with the Gorons and the Zoras . . . ." She firmed her jaw. "Link, I think I need to tell you something important. Something very important. The royal family of Hyrule was entrusted with a great deal of lore revolving around the Sacred Realm and the Triforce. You do know about that, right?"

"Yeah," Link replied, nodding. "The Great Deku Tree told me about the Goddesses and how they created Hyrule, and how the Triforce is a tangible sign of their power."

"The Triforce is more than just a symbol of the Goddesses," Zelda explained. "It is, in many ways, like a living thing. It is actually a means by which the Goddesses' power remains connected to this realm. If one touches the Triforce, one gains access to the power of the Goddesses, and can have their wishes brought to life. But the results of that wish reflect the heart of the one who would hold the Triforce in their hands, and the Triforce is connected to Hyrule itself; if the person who makes the wish has a pure heart, Hyrule will become a paradise, while if the person who claims the Triforce has an evil heart, the world will be consumed by evil . . . at least, that is according to the lore."

Zelda paused to let all of that information sink in for Link, and after a moment, she looked up toward the sky overhead.

"To protect the Triforce and the Sacred Realm, the ancient ones and the Sages chose to safeguard the gateway into the Sacred Realm," she continued. "They constructed a cathedral, the Temple of Time, to serve as the gateway between our world and the Sacred Realm.

"The Temple has incredibly powerful magic about it," Zelda explained. "It is subtle, but strong. At the rear of the Temple is an immense stone doorway guarded by the strongest magic wards the ancient ones could create. There is only one way to bypass it, and that is through keys held by each of the different peoples of Hyrule: the Spiritual Stones. The Gorons hold one, the Zoras another, and the Great Deku Tree safeguarded the third . . . ."

"That was what they were after," Navi muttered from above Link, and he nodded.

"The people of Hyrule guard the Temple of Time itself," Zelda continued, "and even with the Stones, one needs a last key to open the gateway, the treasure entrusted to the Royal Family: the Ocarina of Time. And even after opening the door, there is one final key that only the purest of heart can unlock . . . at least, that was what I've been told; I don't know what stands beyond the door myself."

"So, what do we do?" Link asked.

"I think we don't have much time, actually," Zelda explained, a troubled expression cutting across her face. "There have been rumors of troubles befalling both the Zora and the Goron tribes, and if that is the case, then . . . ."

"Then _what_, Princess?"

The voice made Link stiffen. It was deep, powerful, and to his ears, dark and dangerous. He turned, looking back toward the entrance to the garden, and froze where he stood as his blue eyes locked with baleful yellow ones.

The immense, dark-skinned man strode across the garden, his blood red hair and long brown cape waving in the breeze. The black armor he wore seemed to make him even greater and more intimidating, but Link remained focused on the man's eyes - the same horrifying yellow eyes he had seen in his dreams.

"King Ganondorf," Zelda spoke, but her previously friendly and soft voice was now extremely stiff and formal. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I am merely walking the castle grounds, during a brief recess after speaking with your father," he answered, a smile spreading across his face. Link found it to be terrible to behold, as if the smile echoed pure malice instead of the humor and friendship it was supposed to convey. "I wished to meet with you at some point." His eyes moved to the side, catching Link where he stood, and their gazes locked. Link found himself involuntarily taking a step back, his muscles tightening. His left hand clenched, and he wanted to tear the Kokiri Sword out and bring it to the ready.

"Princess, who is your friend?" Ganondorf asked, turning his body to face Link.

"His name is of no concern to you," Zelda replied. "He is merely a visitor, and we were having a _private_ conversation."

"Of course," Ganondorf answered, nodding, but never taking his eyes off Link's face. "But can the boy speak for himself? What is your name?" Link didn't answer, and instead remained still, in his defensive stance. Ganondorf's eyes flicked over the boy, and his smile both grew and tightened, like a malicious grin etched in steel.

"You are from the forest, aren't you?" he asked. "I have never seen a Kokiri outside of the forest before."

"King Ganondorf," came a call from the rear of the courtyard, and the armored man frowned and looked up. Behind him, a tall woman with pale gray hair and dark red eyes strode into the garden. She was clad in light plate and leather armor, and moved with a warrior's grace as she approached.

"King Hyrule wishes to speak with you again," she explained. Ganondorf's frown grew, but he did not argue with the newcomer.

"Then I will be there presently," he replied with a nod, before glancing back to Zelda. "We shall talk later, Princess." With that, the immense man turned and stalked out of the courtyard, but not before giving Link one last baleful glare as he walked away.

"_Gerudo_," the white-haired woman spat quietly once Ganondorf was gone, before turning to the Princess. "Are you safe, Zelda?"

"I am fine, thank you," the Princess replied. "Link, may I introduce you to my bodyguard, Impa?" The tall woman bowed slightly at Link, much as Zelda had when she was introducing herself.

"So, your name is Link?" she asked, and the Kokiri nodded. "I was wondering who was brave enough to slip past the guards using only a fruit crate for cover."

"You . . . saw us?" Link asked, paling slightly, and Impa nodded.

"I am a Shiekah; we are known for our knowledge of stealth and deception, so it is difficult to evade our notice." What might have been a ghost of a smile spread over her face. "The novelty of your tactics, and the presence of your fairy guardian, kept me from intervening until the Gerudo showed up."

"That man was a Gerudo?" Link asked, and the figure's name echoed in his mind.

"Hailing from the deserts to the far west," Impa replied, nodding. "None trust them, and for good reason."

"Ganondorf," Link whispered, and clenched his hands. "The Great Deku Tree said that the one who had put the curse on him was an evil magician from the western deserts. And I've seen him before, in my dreams, riding a black horse."

"I sensed a dark power in him, too," Navi murmured from her spot on the brim of Link's cap. "The same evil power that was in the Great Deku Tree and Ghoma."

As she finished, Zelda and Impa shared a serious glance, and the Princess nodded.

"This makes too much sense, Link," she remarked. "I had this feeling when I first saw him that he was evil. He swears allegiance to my father, but I knew he was lying. Link, I think that the dark clouds I saw in my dream symbolize that man."

"I won't argue with you," Link replied. "The Great Deku Tree warned me that the one who put the curse on him was seeking the Sacred Realm and the Triforce, and that he was hunting the Spiritual Stones."

"That may explain the troubles we've been hearing from the Gorons and Zoras," Impa remarked. "Both have almost completely retreated back into their enclaves with internal problems. Ganondorf may be pressuring them as well."

"And if he gets the Stones," Zelda whispered, and then shook her head. "Link, we can't let him succeed! We have to stop him!"

"Yeah," Link agreed, nodding firmly. "But how?"

"If we can keep the Spiritual Stones out of Ganondorf's hands, then we should be safe," she explained. "But I don't believe we can secure them indefinitely. One way or the other, Ganondorf will find a way to capture them, and even with all the guards and security here in the castle, I am afraid that we won't be able to prevent him from stealing the Ocarina and its knowledge, either."

"You do not believe that simply protecting the Stones and the Ocarina are good enough?" Impa asked, and Zelda shook her head again.

"He is a thief, and an evil sorcerer," the Princess stated. "If he can curse the Deku Tree, then his power is immense; safeguarding the keys and the Triforce won't work and will simply give him time to plan how to wrest them away from us. We have to stop him before he can do that.

"Link, we have to enter the Sacred Realm and secure the Triforce itself, before he captures it! That's the only way we can defeat Ganondorf and save Hyrule."

The Kokiri was hesitant, but not because he didn't want to do this; in fact, he knew that this mission was the entire reason that the Great Deku Tree had sent him this far. What made Link hesitate was the sheer enormity of what Zelda was asking him to do. Just yesterday he had been a Kokiri boy who had awakened to find his fairy guardian, and now he was speaking with the Princess of Hyrule, on a mission to save the world from darkness. Destiny had a way of sneaking up on an unwitting hero.

However, Link knew what had to be done. There was no question that this was the destiny the Great Deku Tree and the mysterious owl had spoken of, and he knew that everyone in Hyrule and beyond was counting on him to succeed. Even if he knew nothing of this destiny, Link would have gladly answered Zelda's call for help.

And deep down inside, part of Link eagerly accepted anything he could do to get vengeance for the Great Deku Tree's death.

"Princess, if you need me and Navi to help save Hyrule, then we're the ones for the job," he replied.

* * *

-

* * *

Do not expect Link to don a bandana or start smoking cigarettes.

Humor aside, this chapter took me a little bit of time to properly complete. My muse is erratic at times. It does _not _help that Command and Conquer 3 just came out...but hey, the chapter's here. Yay. As is usual with long delays like this, I wrote half this chapter two weeks ago, and then slapped the rest together in a single day. There _might_ be some inconsistencies; if so, kindly point them out.

There was quite a bit of stuff I had planned to include in the chapter - a chase involving Link and the town guards, extended sneaking, and a visit to the Temple of Time, but I cut them out because they interrupted the flow of the chapter and would have taken way too long to write.

To address a concern in a previous review that I never got around to: there will be references to both Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, but not a huge amount of either; you may have already noted a few very minor references already. I will be referencing the Twilight Realm, but not in an overt manner, and I'll try to work in a bit of the character of Ganondorf in Wind Waker as well. There'll be references to some locations in Twilight Princess, but one thing that I will be very careful here is geography; Hyrule is rather schizophrenic between games, so I'm not even going to deal with that headache by keeping geography as simple as possible. (simple being "Zora's Domain is _that_ way" "East or west?" "No, its just...over there somewhere")

Also, even though the story will spend very little time in the Kokiri Forest, you will get a good idea of Kokiri customs and lifestyle; rather than illustrate it directly I will be using a more subtle approach, as spending too much time in the forest would detract from a game that spends a lot more time in Hyrule proper.

As an aside, I spent most of the time writing this chapter listening to, of all things, the Dawn of War soundtrack. Loony.

Until next chapter . . . .


	7. Chapter VI: Death Mountain

_**Chapter VI: Death Mountain**_

It began low and quiet, and then ascended into soft, higher pitched tones, a soothing melody that calmed as it fell on the ears. It wasn't clear why the song affected him the way it did, but he could recognize the energy and magic in the music, just as he recognized the quiet power in the music of his own people.

Link finished the flowing melody, and lowered the ocarina from his lips. Beside him, Impa nodded, the Shiekah bodyguard impressed at his mastery of the song. She had led him out of the castle, quietly clearing the way for Link to escape unseen, and now they were outside the grounds, on the road between the castle and the surrounding city.

"That song is one of several secrets of the Royal Family," she explained. "Only the King, myself, Princess Zelda, and a few select servants and messengers know this song, and as such it is used to identify yourself as an agent of Hyrule itself."

"Its . . . strange," Link remarked, scratching his chin. "Very calming."

"I refer to it as 'Zelda's Lullaby'," Impa explained with a faint smile, the first time he had seen her face's expression actually change. "When she was a baby, I would sing this to her to help her sleep."

"You knew Zelda as a baby?" Link asked, and Impa nodded.

"I have protected the Royal Family my whole life, and the Shiekah people have promised to defend Hyrule's royalty to the death, as a sign of their fealty. The King himself has entrusted me to protect his only daughter." Link nodded, understanding the woman's duties. Hyrule had to be a pretty dangerous place, if it needed all these huge soldiers and warriors like Impa to protect its people.

The Kokiri looked out over the castle grounds, the city, and the rolling plains outside the walls. In the distance, to the east, he could see immense mountains rising into the sky, the closest ringed by fire and smoky clouds. This place was so much larger than the tiny forest he had roamed for the majority of his life.

"That mountain you are looking at is Death Mountain, in the Eldin Province to the east," Impa explained, noting where Link was staring. "The Gorons inhabit that place and the rocky highlands surrounding it. They are a proud and honorable people, and are led by a mighty patriarch named Darunia. The Hylians and the Gorons have always been steadfast allies, and with the song I have taught you, it should not be difficult to earn their trust." Link nodded again, though he wondered how someone as tiny as he would scale such a vast mountain and find his way to the home of the Goron people.

"At the base of Death Mountain is my home, Kakariko Village," Impa replied. "It was the home of the Shiekah long ago, before our numbers dwindled. It is now the one of the centers of trade between our people and the Gorons. From there you will find the trails that lead up Death Mountain and to their city.

"I shall remain here with the Princess to protect her and counter the machinations of the Gerudo," Impa continued. "We must do all that we can to protect this land. I have faith that you will see us through these dark times." As she spoke, she produced a rolled-up sheet of parchment, and handed it to Link. He opened it, to find it was what had to be a map of Hyrule.

"I hope this will help guide you, Link," she added, and nodded a farewell. "May the Goddesses watch over you on your journey." With that, Impa departed, retreating back through the outer grounds and toward the castle, leaving Link alone with Navi, and the mission Princess Zelda had entrusted him with.

The path the Kokiri took back into the city weaved through the northern houses and homes, and he focused on the sound of the marketplace as a guide; having spent so much time in the woods, relying on all of his senses, Link was used to using sound to help guide him. He moved through the alleys and streets, and as he walked, his ears picked up an odd sound . . . or rather, a _lack_ of sound, from the eastern side of the city. Frowning, Link started moving in that direction, and found the noise dying off, which surprised him, considering that he was in a place filled with thousands upon thousands of huge, noisy Hylians.

Link moved between two houses, and then found himself standing on a cobblestone path that led up a series of steps to a large, open terrace, beyond which was a tall stone structure of unremarkable gray. Link peered up at the building, which seemed similar to the castle, and as he walked toward it, a sense of awe fell over him. As his feet propelled him up the steps, a deep sense of reverence fell over him. He stared at the building, and though it was barely a tenth the size of Hyrule Castle, Link felt as if the structure was more awe-inspiring than the immense fortress. This simple cathedral took his breath away.

"Navi, do you feel that?" Link asked a she walked toward the building, understanding why this side of the city was so quiet now.

"Power," she whispered in response. "This building . . . I've never seen it before, but I can feel the strength and the magic that was put into its construction . . . ."

The front of the building featured a huge pair of tall stone doors, unremarkable, like the rest of the structure's interior. But, as Link approached and touched the doorway and reached out, the doors gave way with surprising ease, opening at a bare touch. They slid wide and open, and the Kokiri stepped inside, to find himself almost wanting to drop to his knees under the shocking yet gentle power of this place.

The interior of the building was a single, simple chamber, long and spartan, with no decorations or embellishments. Simple white marble composed the floor, and solid, polished gray stone made up the interior of the chamber. High stained glass windows lined the length of the room, and the ceiling rose far into the air, lost in the shadows and dimness far above. The room was calm, silent, and empty, and it felt as if no one had stepped into this room in decades, yet the chamber was polished and impossibly clean.

Link walked across the room, and neither he nor Navi spoke. At the far end of the empty, simplistic chamber was an altar made of black marble, before an immense stone emblem on the wall. As he approached, Navi finally did speak.

"That symbol," she whispered. "That glyph is part of the divine language of the Goddesses. It means 'time'. And this altar here . . . ."

"The Temple of Time," Link remarked, slowly nodding. Zelda had said this place was powerful, but he hadn't imagined its strength would be this immense. It was as if the very Sacred Realm itself stood in front of him, just beyond that emblem . . . .

It was hard to pull himself away from this place. The Temple of Time's magic was potent, and for a Kokiri unused to such power, it was incredible to be standing in the midst of the works of such mighty ancients. Link remembered Zelda's words, and the mission not only she but the Great Deku Tree had entrusted him with, and slowly turned away from the altar.

There would be time to explore the Temple's secrets later.

* * *

Though he had ridden in on Talon's cart, Link left the gates of the city on foot, weaving his way between the legs and bodies of the tall Hylians. The Kokiri worked his way outside, walking up the road that led out of the southern gate. He passed beneath the watchful eyes of the Hylian guards, who would have stopped a young boy such as Link, but held off when they saw his adventuring gear. Though they knew that children were not allowed to wander outside the walls unaccompanied by an adult, the strange green-clad boy walked as if he knew what he was doing and where he was going, and thus none of the guards challenged Link. Soon enough, the boy vanished into the grasses lining the roads leading into the city.

Hours passed as he worked his way east, moving through the grass at a quick pace, Navi flitting overhead and keeping an eye out for him. Link's gaze remained high, centered on the immense specter of Death Mountain. As the sun set behind him, Link spotted a grove of trees growing on a hill a quarter-mile in the distance, and made for them. The sky turned orange as the Kokiri reached the shelter of the small group of trees, and he settled down underneath their comparative protection. Within minutes Link had gathered bits of wood and kindling and started a small fire at his makeshift campsite as the sun descended in the western sky, at the edge of his perception.

The twilight settled in, and for a brief while, a quiet sadness filled the air as the sun descended on the horizon. At the very edge of darkness, Link felt a sense of calm and faint regret fill him, and he reached into his pouch and pulled out Saria's ocarina.

"When this is all over," he murmured, and smiled. "I'll come back to you, okay?" The twilight didn't answer, and Navi, already asleep in his cap, did not stir in response. After a few more moments, Link brought the ocarina to his lips, and played Saria's melody. A subdued series of notes filled the air as the music flowed from his ocarina, and his memories of the forest came swirling back.

He saw the trees, the Kokiri campfires, the bushes and the grass and the fairies and sprites dancing among the woods. He could hear the laughter of the forest children, the whisper of the wind in the branches and boughs, and calls of birds and the chirping of the crickets, and the voice of the Great Deku Tree as he spoke to his children.

And above all, Link could see and hear Saria. He saw her face, her vibrant green hair, heard her laughter and the flow of her own song as she played it. In his mind, he could see her, sitting in the heart of the Lost Woods, in the Sacred Forest Meadow, playing the same song as Link, her small body swaying unconsciously in time to the music.

Then, in his mind, she opened her eyes, and Link _knew_ at that moment that he wasn't simply imagining this, and that somehow she was there, in that meadow, and that she was looking back at him.

_Link?_

"_Saria?"_ he called back, not knowing what was happening. _"Is that really you?"_

_Yes! _She called back, and Link could hear happiness and relief in her voice. _I knew you were safe!_

"_How did we . . . ."_

_You learned the song I taught you, didn't you? The Great Deku Tree taught me that song, a long time ago, and said that it connected our hearts and minds to the forest. Whenever you play it, it'll bring you back here, to me . . . and the forest, too._

"_So, if I want to talk to you, I just play your song again?"_

_That's right, _she replied. _Where are you?_

"_I'm in Hyrule," _Link explained. _"I've met so many new people, I went to the castle, I saw Princess Zelda, and . . . ."_ He trailed off, a feeling of homesickness washing over him as he truly realized he was speaking with his old friend. Saria's voice filled the gap a moment later.

_I knew you would always leave, _Link, she replied. _But, are you ever coming back?_

"_Not . . . Not yet," _he answered, almost apologetically. _"The Princess has sent me on a mission, just like the Great Deku Tree."_

_Where are you going?_

"_Death Mountain," _he said.

_The home of the Gorons? _Saria's voice came back. _The Great Deku Tree told me that the winds connected the forests and the mountains, and the music of the woods was carried with that wind . . . . So, what was the castle like?_

Link spent the next hour telling Saria everything he had seen in Hyrule Castle, and in the fields. He spoke of the high buildings and towers, the huge people of Hyrule, the vast, unending fields of grass, and of Princess Zelda and her quest. He told her of the power of the Temple of Time, the great armored soldiers, and even of his encounter with Ganondorf. Saria, in turn, spoke of the village, telling Link of the gossip of the Kokiri and what the enraged Mido was doing lately. Though it was trivial and none of it mattered to Link's great adventure, he still relished speaking with his friend and his memories of his home. He had left only days ago, but it felt like a lifetime while adventuring in Hyrule, and talking with Saria reminded him of how much he missed his home.

Time wore on, and both Kokiri eventually began to succumb to the need for sleep. Link bid Saria a regret-filled farewell, and slowly ended the connection. His mind retreated from Saria and the forest, and he opened his eyes, to find himself looking out over the darkened plains of Hyrule, alone save for the smoldering fire and the sleeping Navi in his cap.

Above him, the stars twinkled and the moon shone down across the fields, and the grass slowly swayed with the wind. Leaves rustled above the boy as he looked over the vast, beautiful realm of Hyrule.

With a deep sigh, Link leaned back against the tree he had propped himself against, and closed his eyes once more, and let the words and voice of his friend lead him off into sleep.

* * *

The next morning saw Link rushing through the grass once again, cutting across the field without slowing, Navi again leading the way, and Death Mountain as their guidepost. Two days passed as they hurried across the fields of Hyrule, stopping only to rest and eat in short spurts. Link's athletic lifestyle served him well, and even with his short legs they made good time. As the sun rose into the sky on the third day, the terrain became more hilly as they neared the eastern mountains. The pair crossed a stone bridge over a deep river and found steep hills and cliffs rising up ahead of them. However, a road led from the bridge through the hills, and the pair followed it for another long hour as it weaved between high stone faces. Link new from his map that he had entered the Eldin Province of Hyrule.

On the fourth day, Link and Navi heard distant sounds, shouts and impacts, the calls of chickens and cattle, and the voices of people. The road weaved and turned for an hour, and then, as Link and Navi rounded another cliff, they found themselves looking upon a small Hylian town. At the open town gate were several Hylian guards, clad in the lighter armor of militia, and above them, a wide wooden sign proudly proclaimed this to be the entrance to Kakariko Village.

"So, this is Impa's home?" Link asked as they passed through the gate. The town had been built among the rough, rocky terrain of the Eldin Province, the houses scattered at different elevations among the small hills. It had been set up inside a cleft in the high stone cliffs, and the houses were built of stone and wood. Though there were many buildings, a number of additional houses were being assembled, teams of huge, muscular carpenters raising wooden beams and planting stone foundations. Even without the carpenters the town was busy, especially with farm animals. A huge windmill was set at the back of the village, atop a small cliff, overlooking the whole town.

It was similar to Hyrule's own castle city, but much smaller and with a sparser populace. Link didn't feel the energy and the press of the crowds in this town the way he had while moving through the city.

Though he would have preferred to explore Kakariko more fully, the young Kokiri knew that he had a mission to complete, and that Zelda was waiting on him to recover the other two Spiritual Stones. He quickly found a path leading out the north end of the village, toward the base of Death Mountain, and departed the small town, promising himself that he'd come back to see the village later, when he had the time.

North of Kakraiko, the terrain became more and more steep and barren; though grass had grown west of the village, the northeastern reaches of Eldin were much rockier, and the plant life soon vanished, leaving Link and Navi to trudge over dusty stone and rock. The shift from vibrant grass to barren rock was surprising and disorienting for Link, as even inside Hyrule's walls there had been grass and trees. Now there was just rock, dust, and wind.

Hours rolled past as Link walked up the well-used trail that threaded its way up the side of the mountain. The Gorons and Hylians commonly traded and this road, though steep and rugged, was a testament to that relationship. The going was tiring and Link was sweating heavily, as the sun was reaching its apex. The Kokiri paused at a bend in the bend in the path and leaned against a cliff face as he pulled out his waterskin. As he sipped the water, he heard a distant rumbling sound coming from up the mountain. Having lived so long in the woods, Link had no knowledge of rockslides or the other dangers of mountains, so he simply listened, curious. As the sound grew larger, the rumbling intensifying, Link's keen ears determined that the noise was coming from above him, and he looked up the trail. His eyes followed the path up, until they spotted movement - _fast_ movement.

Link saw something careening down the trail, and his eyes widened as he realized it was a boulder, rolling _straight_ toward him. He scrambled away as the boulder crashed down the trail, and a few moments later it slammed into the wall, mere inches from where Link had been leaning.

Link clambered up onto his feet, a bit dizzied by the impact behind him, and looked back at the boulder, only to see the big rock shudder and _move_. Thick arms and legs seemed to uncurl from beneath the boulder, virtually invisible before, and the rock shook itself off, before turning toward Link. As it moved, Link saw a small head on top of the stone body, and a pair of large black eyes and a wide mouth were visible as it turned to face him. The creature let out a deep grunt as it stood.

"Oh, hi there!" the creature said, its voice like the rumble of tumbling stone. "Sorry, I didn't see you from up above when I turned the bend! I tried to slow down, but you know how it is when a Goron gets going!"

"Goron?" Link echoed, amazed by the creature's appearance. It looked like nothing short of a huge, humanoid boulder, but the smiling, friendly face on top made him feel at ease in the presence of such a strange creature.

"Eh, you never seen a Goron before?" the creature asked with a smile and a deep, throaty laugh. "I thought we got around enough that everyone knew us by now. But I guess we have been a bit away lately, with all the problems in the caves and the mountain." With a frown, the Goron reached over and tore a piece of stone from the cliff and tossed it into its mouth, and Link heard a deep crunching sound, followed by a frown.

"Trail stone ain't that good, but it keeps you going when you're rolling," the Goron said, and then extended a hand toward the boy. "I'm Barock."

"Link," the Kokiri replied, shaking the Goron's hand.

"What brings a little human like you all the way up to Death Mountain?" asked Barock.

"Well, I'm trying to find your Chieftain, actually," Link replied. "Princess Zelda sent me to meet with Darunia."

"Ah, the big boss!" Barock said, nodding, and gestured up the trail. "He's up in the city. Been fuming over all this trouble with the Dodongo Cavern and whatnot. You here about the bomb shipments?"

"Bombs?" Link asked, confused, having never heard the word before.

"Yeah, bombs!" Barock said. "Half the reason why Hyrule's so big is our bomb crops! We make explosives out of bomb flowers and trade them with our allies. The Hylian army loves those things. Maybe once we get this trouble sorted out we can get back to selling in the city again."

The two moved up the trail, and within a half-hour they were passing by other members of the boulder-like race, some basking in the bright sunlight while others seemed to loiter around and engage in small talk. Barock waved to them as they passed, and the good-natured Gorons waved back. As Link and Barock continued up the mountain, they passed a group of Gorons gathered round an immense boulder than was lying along one side of the trail, blocking the entrance to what looked like a cavern. The heavy-set Gorons were assaulting the stone with a variety of crafted steel hammers and picks, or even their bare hands. Link watched with amazement at their sheer strength, and even the rock itself seemed to crack under the impact of their bare knuckles.

"What's going on?"

"That's the Dodongo Cavern," Barock explained. "Darunia got a group of Gorons together the break it back open after that big rockslide a few days ago. We've been clearing the rocks from this trail for days now; you're the first Hylian to actually come up the mountain since we've cleared the trail."

"I'm not a Hylian," Link replied, and Barock frowned. "I'm a Kokiri." Barock paused, scratching the back of his head in confusion - it sounded like scraping a pair of rocks together - and shrugged.

"You're all pink and hairy and flammable," Barock said, and chuckled. "I can't tell the difference between you guys! Come on, the city isn't much farther this way." They continued up the trail, and rounded a bend that led into a large, shaded section of overhanging rock. Gorons lazed and loitered around the area, and Link was surprised at how laid-back the people of the mountains were; though the Kokiri lived a similar carefree lifestyle, they were far more active, reveling in life, while the Gorons seemed as sleepy as the mountains they lived in.

Within the shaded overhang was a large stone archway, beyond which was shining torchlight. Barock led the way inside, and Link found his breath taken away by the chamber beyond.

A vast cavern had been carved out of the mountain, with multiple terraced levels that descended to the bottom of the cavern. Gorons were scattered around the inside of the stone city, and windows carved out of the ceiling provided ample light, aided by many torches. Below, Link could hear the clanging of ironworks and forges, and could see the walls covered with glyphs and paintings made by the artistically-inclined members of the race.

"Welcome to Goron City, Link," Barock said with a booming laugh at the Kokiri's amazement. "Sometimes we wonder if we could give it a better name, but Darunia always says that we live on Death Mountain, so pretty names aren't exactly all that important around here, eh?" Barock led the way down through the large city, with the wide-eyed Kokiri following. The last thing he had expected when he had left his village was to be walking around inside a huge city cut out of a mountain by a race of living boulders.

They weaved their way through tunnels and side passages, which seemed to have been cut almost lazily out of the stone - or perhaps had been tunneled by bored Gorons. Some of the creatures that Link passed were the size of Barock, while others were smaller, barely taller than Link, and others were immense, bumpy slabs of stone with knobby arms and legs. Some were shaped like stalagmites, while others vaguely resembled flat slabs of shale. The Kokiri could hear the crunch of rocks being chewed and the hammering of drums as the good-natured Goron people played and worked in the village, and more than a few waved and smiled and offered greetings to the stranger in their midst. Link waved back, and each smiling Goron face filled him with good cheer. As strange as this city was, Link enjoyed the infectious good will and friendship of the laid-back Gorons.

They reached the lowest level, and Barock led Link toward a large stone doorway, emblazoned with a diamond shape, topped by three triangles. Link had noted the same image tattooed - or carved, rather - into the bodies of various Gorons and painted on the walls. Barock pounded on the door, and waited a few moments, before frowning.

"Hey, Brother!" he shouted. "Open the door, we have a visitor from Hyrule!"

There was hammering sound on the other side, and an angry growl, which resembled an earthquake.

"Not now!" came a shout from the far end of the door. To Link, it sounded like an exploding avalanche, and he realized that this was the first time he'd heard the Gorons_ shouting_. "Unless its someone from the Royal Family, I've got work to do!"

"But Brother Darunia-"

"_No one else_!" came the response, and Barock frowned once again, and glanced at Link.

"Well, this doesn't look good. Whenever Brother Darunia is in such a bad mood, he gets hard to reason with . . . Maybe some of the sounds from the southern forests will cheer him up, but we'd need to get him outside so he can listen to the wind . . . ." He trailed off as he saw Link pull out his ocarina. Before Barock could ask what Link was doing, The Kokiri closed his eyes and raised the ocarina to his lips.

A low, soothing melody emerged from the instrument, and steadily rose, before dropping again. Link repeated the melody Impa had taught him, going through the long, slow rhythm of the lullaby of the Royal Family. After several moments, the door shuddered, and slowly slid open.

An immense face peered out the door, from nearly eight feet above the ground. The huge Goron, with massive stony arms and stalactites poking down from his jaw like a rocky beard, glared down at Link, and an angry frown that probably would have killed small animals appeared on the boulder-like creature's face.

"Who is this?" the Goron - doubtless Darunia - thundered. "Since when has King Hyrule used kids as his messengers?" With a snarl, Darunia punched the wall next to him, cracking it. His hand pulled away, taking bits of rock with it, and he glanced at his fingers, before tossing the broken rock into his mouth and crunching away. Even while eating, he looked furious.

"The King sent you as his messenger?" the Goron muttered again as he finished his snack. "Have I fallen that far in the King's eyes that he sends a kid to talk with me?" Darunia punched the wall again, and let out an inarticulate roar of fury, before spinning around and stomping down the hallway beyond the door.

"On top of the Dodongos, the cut-off from the bomb harvesting, and that Gerudo sealing the entrance to the cavern, making us eat rocks from the _walls _instead of the mines . . . ." Darunia punched the wall a third time as he walked away.

"Is he always this angry?" Link asked, and Barock shrugged.

"He always gets in a better mood when he listens to the southern winds," Barok said again. "Loves the sounds the wind carries from the forest. But we need to get him to listen, and he's not a good listener when he's in his wall-punching moods."

The Kokiri nodded, and followed Darunia down the hallway, and entered the Chieftain's inner chambers, where the Goron was chewing on what looked like a hunk of quartz as he was reading a stone tablet.

"Excuse me," Link began, a bit hesitantly.

"What?" snarled Darunia, glancing back at Link. "What does the King want? I'm busy!"

"I'm actually here from Princess Zelda," Link explained. "She sent me to, ah, get the Spiritual Stone that the Gorons have . . . ."

"What?" Darunia thundered, and he stomped his foot on the floor, face contorting in more fury. "That's what started this whole mess in the first place! That Gerudo sorceror and his magic is causing these rock-aches, and I don't want to hear anything more about it!" Darunia jabbed a finger toward the door leading back outside. "Get out of my face, kid! I don't have time to be-" Darunia's ranting came to a halt as Link realized that the huge Goron was in far too angry a mood to listen or help. Remembering what Saria and Barok had said, the Kokiri took out his ocarina, which caused even the enraged Darunia to pause, wondering what Link was doing.

The melody that Saria always played, the song that was part of the Kokiri Forest itself, filled the room. Darunia's fury melted as he heard that song, and as the seconds passed he started to sway back and forth his head bobbing as he heard the music.

"Oh, hey, that's . . . ." he said, and Link slightly increased the tempo as he saw the Goron's face twist into a smile. He closed his eyes, head bobbing more rapidly to the flow of the song.

"That's a nice song . . . ." Darunia said, and his feet started to move. As Link continued to play, the Goron suddenly started hopping back and forth, dancing on his feet, shaking the room with each impact.

"_Yeah!"_ Darunia shouted as Link sped up the song. "Oh yeah! _Whoo_!" The huge Goron was now dancing all out, laughing and waving his arms wildly. Link was almost frightened by the crazed Goron dance, but Darunia didn't seem to notice as he bounced around the room, cheering as he danced.

"What a _hot beat_!" he shouted. "_Whooooooah! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah_!" Darunia leapt up into the air and smashed down into the ground, hammering his chest with both hands, laughing wildly. The impact caused Link to stumble and fall, ending the song prematurely, but by that time, the melody of the woods had already turned Darunia's anger into giddy happiness.

"Oooh, I forgot how _awesome_ that was!" he proclaimed as Link stood up. "I got stuffed up in this room for so long I forgot to go outside and listen to the wind!" He hammered his chest again as he looked at Link, a very Goron-like smile on his face.

"I am _Darunia_!" he shouted, patting Link on the shoulder. "Patriarch of the Goron tribes of Death Mountain! I'm sorry about that bad mood I was in! Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Uh, yeah," Link said, smiling now that the angry boulder had become a pleasant Goron. "Princess Zelda sent me to get the Spiritual Stone of the Gorons."

"Ah, the Spiritual Stone of Fire," Darunia replied, nodding. "The Goron's Ruby, in other words. That Gerudo, Ganondorf, was wanting the same thing."

"Ganondorf?" Link asked, and Darunia nodded.

"He demanded the Goron's Ruby, and when we refused, he promised us dire consequences. The next day, Dodongos infest the Dondongo caverns in huge numbers, and then a rockslide blocks off all our trails and the cave itself. That has cut us off from both the bomb flowers we use to make bombs, and the prime sirloin rocks in the mines. That might be why I was so angry, too! I haven't had a good, crunchy granite sirloin in a week!" Darunia paused, looking Link over, and noticed the adventuring gear he carried.

"I'll tell you what, kid," Darunia offered. "Once we get that big boulder cleared, I'm going to take a gang of my best Goron smashers and we're going to clear out those caves of the dodongos! Prove you're a real man and help us out, and I'll give you the Goron's Ruby for the Princess! Deal?"

Link didn't see much of a choice, but even if he had a choice, he would have gladly chosen to help out these peaceful and amicable Gorons anyway. With a nod and a smile, he agreed to Darunia's request.

"Great, kid!" the Goron leader remarked, and extended a beefy, stony hand. "What's your name?"

"Link," the Kokiri offered.

"Okay, Link!" Darunia said, and hammered his chest once again. He grabbed a heavy stone club off the wall and set it on his shoulders. "Time to smash some giant fire-breathing dragons!"

" . . . what?" Link asked, and he paled slightly as Darunia stomped out of the chambers. The Kokiri followed, wondering what he had just gotten himself into.

* * *

-

* * *

For some reason, I had _fun_ while writing this chapter. I'm not sure why, considering that it lacked that action I love doing. Maybe it was me finally being able to write some Goron stuff. Gorons are my favorite Zelda species, so I love writing the guys. There's something awesome about a giant boulder that likes to sumo wrestle.

Next chapter, expect some real heavy action along the lines of short-sword-to-face and Goron-fist-to-face.

Until next chapter . . . .


	8. Chapter VII: Dragon Hunters

_**Chapter VII: Dragon Hunters**_

"So, what are dodongos?" Link asked as the Gorons ahead smashed against the huge boulder. With hearty cries of victory, the mountain people sent one final barrage of blows against the stone, and it shattered under their attack, collapsing and scattering along the trail. The entire assembled Goron force, some fifty strong, let out a unified cheer, fists pumping and hammers waving. The lumpy, stone-like creatures shared heavy backslaps that would slap a Hylian silly, as Darunia watched on, nodding in approval.

"Dodongos are huge, two-legged, fire-breathing lizards," Darunia answered. "Not as huge as Gorons, though, hah!" He slapped his chest. "But a strong, hearty Goron can shrug off those flames without trouble! We eat lava soup, after all." He glanced down at Link, and frowned.

"Though, being a pink creature of flesh like yourself, with no tough Goron stone in you, you are . . . _flammable_. And you are much smaller than us. Hm."

"Do dodongos have any weak spots?" Link asked, and Darunia shrugged.

"Gorons normally answer the dodongo threat with a fist or hammer to the head!" he answered. "But the scales are tough to penetrate with blades or spears, and young Gorons are taught to aim for the throat or tail, where the beasts' armor is weakest."

"I guess that'll have to do," Link muttered, and Darunia nodded.

"It is best you do not burden yourself with a shield," he added as Gorons gathered up around him, carrying heavy hammers, stone clubs, or fists covered in steel. Though the Kokiri was awed by Hylian soldiers, to see the stone-like Goron warriors gathering was something even more impressive. Though once laid-back and pleasant, these Goron fighters seemed as if boulders ready to come tumbling down the side of the mountain.

"I think I'll keep mine," Link replied, shaking his head. "Its not that heavy."

"Wood catches on fire easy," Darunia replied. "But if you insist!" He pointed his club toward the entrance. "Warriors of Death Mountain! We shall secure the first chamber, and then branch out to crush the lizards! The Hylians will pay well for dodongo meat and scales, right?" The Gorons stomped and cheered, and Darunia marched forward, into the looming cave entrance, with fifty Gorons behind and one small, green-clad Kokiri beside him.

"This must be what an avalanche sounds like," Link muttered, and Navi, fluttering beside him, bobbed in agreement.

A long, wide corridor greeted the Goron troupe as it marched into the cavern, and they pressed on, Darunia leading, until they reached an archway that opened into a larger chamber. The Goron force thundered inside, and Link and Navi found themselves looking upon a huge, dimly-lit chamber, the scent of brimstone filling the air. Darunia took a deep breath as he looked around the room, and nodded.

"No enemies are present," he proclaimed, and the Gorons echoed his agreement as they spread around the room. In the center of the chamber was a large raised platform, separated from the rest of the room by a lake of half-molten stone. A dozen and more doorways and passages marked the edges of the chamber, scattering all throughout the caverns, but what occupied Link's attention the most was at the far end of the room, on the other side of the raised platform.

What could only be described as an immense lizard skull was mounted on the far wall, twenty times the size of the biggest Goron in the group. It dominated the entire far wall, looming overhead with empty eye sockets.

"What is that thing?" the Kokiri asked, and Darunia grunted.

"The Emperor Dodongo," he replied. "The greatest dodongo the Goron tribe ever slew, even before we sealed away the fire dragon Volvagia. We mounted his skull here centuries ago as part of the gate leading into the inner depths of the caverns . . . but its jaws are closed now."

"You're right, Big Brother," Barock replied, peering over the immense skull. "The jaws are always open, so that we can reach the prime rocks in the depths of the cavern. But the way is shut now."

"I don't think it's a coincidence that they're closed," Link remarked, and Darunia nodded.

"Doubtless Ganondorf has arranged all these troubles," the Goron patriarch declared. "Thus the way is clear: we must reopen the jaws of the Emperor Dodongo and find what lurks beyond!"

"How do we do that?" Link asked, and Darunia pointed at the great skull's eye sockets.

"We have constructed hidden mechanisms inside the skull," he explained. "If a bomb is dropped inside the eye socket, it will cut the bindings used to hold the jaw in place, and the skull will open to the cavern's darkest depths."

"We don't have any bombs on hand," Barock muttered. "And it will take days to properly prepare more bombs from the bomb flowers in the caves."

"We keep stashes of explosives hidden in the caves for just that reason," Darunia replied. "But we must get above the skull first . . . Ah, there!" As he pointed a stony finger, the Kokiri and Gorons looked up, to see a ramshackle old suspension bridge hanging above the skull.

"Doesn't look too sturdy," Barock muttered. "I think it might break that if we walk on it."

"I can do it," Link replied, and Darunia chuckled.

"I knew it was a good idea to bring you along, kid!" he declared. "Okay, Brothers! Listen to me!" The Gorons all turned as one to Darunia, who hammered his chest for emphasis.

"Barock, you will take one half of our smashers and go west! Crush all Dodongos you see! Clear those passages one by one. The remainder of you will follow me, and we shall scour the eastern half of the mines! Crush all lizards we come across, but keep in mind that we must locate the easiest passage to the bridge overlooking the Emperor Dodongo's skull! Only then can we truly cleanse our caves and eat well!" The assembled Goron warriors pounded the ground with their feet and whooped, then broke up, forming into two battle groups. As they did so, Darunia glanced down at Link.

"Kid, I want to see what you can do with that little sword of yours! Show me what you've got!" Link nodded, and fell into step beside Darunia as he led his twenty Gorons down the eastern passages, while Barock took the western paths.

Soon, the rumbling pile of armed boulders and their Kokiri comrade were marching down a long corridor, wide enough for five Gorons to walk abreast. Darunia and Link walked at the front of the passage, eyes open and ears alert for any threat. They continued down the tunneled hallway, when Link thought he heard a scraping sound, and paused.

"Navi, you hear that?"

"No, what?" she replied.

"What have you heard?" Darunia asked, and Link shook his head after a second.

"Probably noth-"

"Raaaaaah!" came a shout from behind them, at the rear of the Goron group, and a high-pitched, rasping squeal could be heard. Link heard a dozen more scraping sounds, and realized what it was when a small green creature half his size burst up from the ground: the sound of claws digging through the soil!

"Little dodongos!" shouted one of the Gorons as the green creature, a two-legged lizard with a thick, snake-like tail and huge black eyes leapt at Link, letting out the same rasping squeal. The Kokiri Sword was out in an instant, and Link was pulling the shield off his back as the creature leapt at him. The small blade stabbed at the leaping beast, sliding into its chest without much trouble, and the monster let out a cry of agony. Link shook his blade, trying to get the dying beast off his blade as he brought his shield around. Beside him, there was a roar that rattled the Kokiri's bones as Darunia swatted another of the fledgling lizards away with a backhand. The creature smashed into a wall and went limp, as Link finally put a boot to the dead thing on his blade and threw it off.

"Down!" Darunia shouted, and Link wasn't sure who he was talking to, until a sudden impact flung him backwards, his ears ringing as warm lizard flesh splattered against his clothes and face.

Navi was beside link as he scrambled to his feet, and he felt the sudden vibrations of multiple explosions in the room.

"That thing exploded!" Navi warned Link as he stood, shaking his head.

"Huh? Dodongos explode when they die?"

"It looks like-" Navi's words were cut off as another of the lizards burst from the ground and leapt at the Kokiri. This time, his shield was up, and the lizard bounced off the unyielding wood, falling back to the ground in surprise and confusion. Link didn't let it get its bearings, the Kokiri Sword stabbing down into the beast's head. The creature went limp, and Link hopped back. A second later, it detonated in a storm of flying scales and stringy flesh.

All through the Goron group, there were more detonations as the walking boulders lashed out with furious abandon at the swarming creatures. Dodongos leapt at the Gorons, who swatted them aside in mid-air with fists and clubs. Those that managed to latch onto one of the rocky warriors found their teeth could not penetrate the thick Goron hide, and were plucked off by the warriors and flung aside. Indeed, the greatest danger to the warriors was not the enemy, but the explosions they made when they died, and even those did little more than shock the sturdy Goron warriors. The battle was a high-energy smash-fest for the Gorons, and they enjoyed every second of it, whooping and cheering as they crushed the tiny serpents and got knocked off their feet by the explosions, only to climb back up laughing.

"Link!" Navi called to his left, and the Kokiri whirled, pivoting on his right leg to bring his shield around. Another baby dodongo smacked into the shield and flopped back, stunned by the impact, and died as the Kokiri stabbed his blade into its stomach.

"Behind you!" Navi warned, and before she'd even finished, Link had spun, to see two of the beasts crawling out of the ground behind him. His sword stabbed, and he leapt back as the first dodongo died. The explosion of its death hurled the second one aside, and Link chased after it, finishing the beast where it lay. Another warning cry from Navi had him turning, and he blocked yet another leaping beast, slashing into its body as it bounced off his shield and then leaping away.

Darunia, at the front of the group, stood the tallest and proudest among the Goron warriors, shouting and waving his club as he beat down the dodongos. A half-dozen were crawling on him as he fought, but he seemed not to care. Lizards were crushed and exploded all around him, until none remained, and then he started pulling off the ones latched onto his hide, flinging them against the walls hard enough to blow them up outright. The last tiny dodongo was pulled off the top of his head, and with a grunt, Darunia crushed it in his free hand and tossed it aside, letting it detonate behind him.

"Such puny creatures are no match for the Gorons!" he shouted, and the Gorons echoed his cheer. Even Link found himself thrusting his blade into the air and echoing that cry, but it was lost amidst the avalanche of rocky voices and clamoring feet.

The cheer began to die down, but it seemed to echo for a moment, though the pitch was higher and sounded distinctly less . . . Goron-like. Link turned in the direction of the echo, and his keen Kokiri eyes, along with Navi's sharp fairy vision, spotted the threat at the same moment.

"Big dodongos!" they both shouted, and the Gorons wheeled to face them, and saw, lumbering down the corridor, a dozen and more large green shapes, the crawling and slithering forms of great armored lizards as tall as Link and three times as long, fire issuing from their mouths and nostrils.

"Adult dodongos!" Darunia shouted, a smile on his face. "Finally, a _challenge_! Brothers, form up to roll!"

The Gorons let out another whoop, and the first rank of five stepped forward, dropping what weapons they carried and rolling up into balls similar to the one Barock had formed when he had nearly squashed Link mere hours ago. Behind them, the next rank grabbed onto their rolled-up brothers, and with mighty shouts, heaved their comrades forward. The Gorons flew toward the swarm of dodongos, even as the second rank rolled up as well, and the third rank hurled them into the fray. The fourth rank did the same for the third rank, and fifteen rolling boulders crashed headlong into the swarm of fire-breathing lizards, smashing and scattering them. Darunia, the last line of Gorons, and Link rushed to join the melee as the first fifteen rocky warriors burst out of their boulder-ball shapes and lashed out, punching, kicking, and stomping with wild abandon. Fire was belched from dodongo throats, but the fiery beasts' flames barely singed the hardy warriors of stone.

Darunia had no intention of letting his brothers get all the fun, and his club bore down on a dodongo with a rock shaking _crunch_, smashing the beast's head open. When it exploded, Darunia let out a hearty laugh, shrugging off the blast and charging another beast.

One of the beasts broke free of the chaos, and sighted Link. Without hesitating, the monster rushed at the small Kokiri, flames belching from its throat. Link dove aside as Navi flitted overhead, ignored by the monster. The dodongo turned to follow Link, inhaling to spew another wave of blazing fire. The Kokiri, however, was far more agile, and ran around the clumsy two-legged beast, looking for an opening in its thick scales.

"Link, here!" Navi called, hovering over the base of the dodongo's tail. Link dove forward, behind the monster's right leg, and the Kokiri Sword stabbed down into its backside, biting deep. Enraged, the monster roared and whirled, its heavy tail smacking into Link and launching him backward. The boy crashed into the passageway wall, and flopped to the ground, dazed for an instant.

"Link, move!" came Navi's urgent cry, and without thinking the Kokiri rolled aside, and instant before a stream of fire hammered where he had laid. Link scrambled to his feet, and the dodongo closed in, readying another blast of its hellish breath, but before it finished, Link snapped his shield hand out and hurled a Deku Nut its way. The explosive seed detonated against the monster's forehead, and it reeled in surprise and confusion, shaking its head.

By the time the dodongo recovered, Link was stabbing his small blade into the side of its throat.

By the time the beast finally detonated, Link had already backed away and was seeking another enemy, only to find the "battle" had become a complete rout.

Detonations filled the cavern. Dodongos roared and died. Flames belched into the air and Gorons let out whoops and cheers. One spirited warrior twirled a hapless dodongo in the air by its tail and flung it down the passageway to explode against a wall. Darunia's shouts filled the cavern as his club struck. Navi's blue light flitted to and fro, amidst the chaos, and Link kept to the edges of the shouting, exploding mess of Goron and dodongo. His blade found the backside of another lizard, and as it whirled to retaliate, Link rolled aside, evading the flames and leaping forward into a diving stab into the monster's throat. The dodongo let out a gasp of pain and flopped to the ground, and Link wisely backed way from the detonation moments later.

As pieces of the dead dodongo slapped against the walls, the Gorons let out a unified cheer. They had emerged victorious against the swarm of beasts, and the worst of them suffered a few singed spots on his hide and some tooth marks on a leg.

"Come, Brothers!" Darunia declared, waving his club. "There are plenty more skulls to bash!" The Gorons whooped once again, and started rumbling down the corridor, with Link and Navi chasing after the tireless, wild mountain folk.

The passage of the Gorons and their mighty, inevitable victory over the dodongos did not pass unnoticed. As the mountain folk and their Kokiri ally pounded through the fiery lizards, glittering red eyes watched the from far above, nearly invisible in the shadows of the cavern's passageways. Under the cover of their rumbling advance, the watchers detached from the ceilings and flew through the mines and tunnels, to those waiting deeper within the cavern.

* * *

His master had gifted him the privilege of a name when he had been created years ago, and he had chosen the name of Sssindrad. As a pack leader, Sssindrad was smarter and better-equipped than his fellows, and was gifted with the dark magic that allowed him to commune with the others who had been created by the same magic of the Gerudo's King. Sssindrad and his fellow warriors had heard the rumbles of the mountain-folk's approach, and were readying their weapons as they had been ordered. Ganondorf had placed them here to defend the mines if the Gorons had ever actually cleared the entrance, though Sssindrad was surprised the lazy, sleepy mountain people had even gotten around to opening the passage.

The monster cast his beady, unblinking eyes upward as he heard the flap of wings, and saw the glittering eyes of his scouts. Keese were common pests and predators in dark places, and the little bat-like creatures were little more than a nuisance to the larger and smarter species in the world, but they made excellent scouts, particularly when the black magic of Ganondorf had altered them with unnatural intelligence. The winged creature landed on Sssindrad's shoulder, and through their mutual dark power, the creature imparted what it had seen. With a snarl, the pack leader drew his sword and readied his shield.

"To arms," he hissed to his warriors. "Gorons march through the tunnels! Ready for battle!" Within the chamber, more hissing sounds could be heard as the warriors gathered in anticipation, and at a wave of a hand from Sssindrad, they rushed down the tunnels, hungry for violence in the name of their master.

* * *

A Goron fist met a lizard skull, and the skull gave way before the rocky knuckles of the Goron warrior. The boulder-like being kicked the corpse down the passage, and it exploded, followed by the victorious warrior pounding his chest.

"No foes remain in this passage!" he reported back, and the rest of the Gorons were cleaning up the few baby dodongos remaining. Darunia clapped his hands together and pointed his weapon down the passage, as Link wiped his blade on the wall, trying to get all the lizard blood off of it. Unlike the other monsters he'd killed before, these actually bled, and didn't leak evil flames, and that got the boy thinking.

"Navi, I don't think these dodongos were made by Ganondorf," he mused as the column marched down the twisting passage. According to Darunia, they were ascending up into the higher levels of the cavern, which meant that they were approaching the high bridge over the Emperor Dodongo's skull.

"I think so too," the fairy replied, hovering close by Link so she could hear him over the rumble of the Gorons' passage. "They don't seem to possess black magic like the Wolfos we fought before."

"But I can feel something isn't right around here," Link said. "Ganondorf may have put more in these caverns than just lots of dodongos."

"We should keep our eyes open and be ready," Navi suggested.

"Aha!" came Darunia's shout, and the two looked up, to see the big Goron pointing down the passage. "Link, this is what we have been looking for!" The Kokiri ran up beside Darunia as he stood next to an alcove in the wall. The Goron pushed against the stone inside the alcove, and it slid open, to reveal a small room beyond, with several boxes of stone inside.

"Search through these," he said as he opened one of the boxes. Link lifted one of the heavy lids up, and found a pile of glittering gems staring back at him, shining under Navi's light. He remembered seeing stones like these being passed back and forth by the Hylians in the market, and he guessed they were some kind of trade item, like the Kokiri traded Deku Nuts.

"What are these?" Link asked, holding up one of the small stones, an emerald one. Darunia looked up, frowned, and took it in his hand.

"Eh? These are rupees. Don't tell me you don't know what rupees are!"

"Um," Link replied, shrugging, and Darunia shook his head, tossing the gemstone into his mouth and crunching it. "You Hylians are crazy sometimes. Rupees are money for your people, kid. Greens are worth less than blues, which are worse less than reds, which are worth less than purple." He peered over the box. "We don't use them much ourselves, just to make it easier to trade with Hylians and the Zora. Tasty little things. Someone stashed a bunch in here with the bombs. You want 'em?" Link looked down at the box again, and then shrugged once more and started fishing them into his pocket. If he was going to be running around Hyrule, he had might as well carry some of the local currency.

"Okay, here we go," Darunia added as Link finished filling one of his pouches with the small gems from the box. The Kokiri looked up, to see Darunia holding a couple of leather bags. He opened one and took out small black ball about he size of Link's fist.

"Here, kid, take one," he explained, tossing one of the bags to Link. He then handed the boy a small box, filled with matches.

"How do I use these?" Link asked, carefully holding the bag. Darunia held the ball in his hand toward the boy, and turned the top to face him.

"Easy," he explained. "Strike a match, put it on the fuse - the little string there - and then throw it as hard as you can. After a couple of seconds, it'll blow. Don't be there when it explodes, since it isn't skin and meat like a dodongo. These things can kill you if they go off in your face." Link nodded and carefully affixed the bag to his belt.

"Now, we just need to find the passage to-"

"_Enemies!" _

The shout came from outside, and both Goron and Kokiri spun and rushed out into the passage as they heard steel clashing against steel. Goron shouts filled the air, and mixed in were serpentine hisses and high-pitched squeals. As the two rushed out into the passage, they saw the Gorons embroiled in battle with dozens of tall, slender, scaly creatures, taller than a Hylian, wielding longswords. They were serpentine, their bodies shaped like humanoid lizards, but with the exception of scabbards at their sides, the creatures wore no armor, and their blades struck and stabbed wildly at the Goron defenders.

Most importantly of all, however, was the aura the creatures exuded, the same dark aura of the Wolfos. One of the Gorons struck a lizardman hard with his hammer, and instead of flying blood, Link saw dark fire jet out of the beast, which told him all he needed to know.

Ganondorf's minions.

Darunia barreled into the battle, smashing his club down on one of the beasts so hard he shattered its head and squashed it to the floor. Link rushed in right beside him, and a lizardman turned on him, stabbing at the boy with its sword. The blade smacked against the Deku-bark shield, and Link countered with a swift stab into the beast's gut as it extended itself. The monster reeled, black fire jetting from the wound, and Darunia backhanded the wounded beast across the passage with casual ease.

The Goron patriarch whirled on another foe, his stone club swinging across. The lizardman didn't bother parrying, ducking beneath the strike and stabbing at Darunia's gut. The blade stuck into the Goron's hide, but, like the stone of the mountain, Darunia shrugged off the blow with a laugh and brought his club back across, shattering the beast's upper body and sending it flying away in a cloud of burning ash. Across the passage, the Gorons met their foes the same way, taking sword blows while barely flinching and countering with devastating impacts using their clubs, hammers, fists, and even foreheads. However, for every lizardman they struck down, another rushed down the passage and leapt into the fray. For the gathered Gorons, this mattered little; they battled with cheers and laughter, and crashed through their enemies as a rockslide would power through a wooden cabin.

Link fought at the edge of the group, as the Gorons rolled forward, enveloping the front line of the lizardmen, and soon all order was lost as Gorons wildly and gleefully smashed and bashed their attackers, with Darunia in the lead. Another lizardman had thought the Kokiri easy prey, but its first blow was easily deflected by the boy's stout wooden shield, and his swift counter nearly severed its leg. Then, Navi swept into the lizard's face, disorienting it, and at that moment, the Kokiri Sword stabbed up into its gut once, then twice, and then a third time. As it reeled backward, Link moved past the dying beast and drew another opponent toward him.

This time, though, _two_ of the lizardmen spotted Link and rushed forward, hissing and screeching. Link fell back, not sure if he could fight two blade-wielding foes, and then realized that they were moving to flank him and drive him back from the main battle. They struck hard and fast, blades stabbing and slashing viciously at the Kokiri, and he gave way, raising his shield as his mind raced to find a way to beat his foes. Their swords _thunked_ against the stout, enchanted wood, and Link ducked and weaved to evade their blows as they tried to sneak them around the shield.

A sword impacted against Link's shield, and he hopped to the left, using the leftmost lizardman as a shield as he dodged. The beast on the right started to circle around him when Navi cut in front of it, dazzling its vision, and Link lashed out before the other lizardman could raise its guard. The Kokiri sword slid into the creature's flank, and as it reeled backward, Link bore in with a flurry of short, quick stabs. It keeled over, wailing in pain as black fire burst from its wounds, and dropped to the ground.

The other lizardman snarled, shook its head, and started toward Link, and even as the Kokiri was turning to face it, Navi shouted another warning.

"Link, your right!" The Kokiri spared a glance, and saw three _more_ of the lizardmen rushing toward him, and behind them was an even bigger beast, carrying a broadsword and shield. The entire group was heading straight for Link, and would catch him before he could get back to the wild morass that was the Goron company. Instead, Link leapt backward, throwing a Deku Nut out to blind his opponents for an instant.

"This way!" Navi suddenly cried, and Link saw her flittering in front of a side passage. Not hesitating, the Kokiri made a break for it, even as his foes were shaking off their momentary blindness and starting after him again. He rushed down the passage at full speed.

The end of the corridor opened into a large chamber full of glittering pink and yellow quartz. The floor was split in several places by deep crevices filled with rushing, steaming water, doubtless heated by the half-molten stone throughout the caves. Link leapt across the first crevice at a full run, the gap nearly five feet wide, and hit the other side easily.

Behind him, he heard the hissing of one of the beasts, and felt it hit the ground right behind him. In a single motion, Link dug both feet into the ground and reversed his momentum, even as the beast took a step after the boy. The lizardman was caught completely off-guard as Link reversed momentum and hurled himself at the monster, his sword stabbing through the creature's chest and into its heart. It reeled backward, black fire burning its body, and tumbled into the crevice.

An instant later, a second lizardman leapt through the steam, sword diving before it even hit the stone with both feet. The blade bounced off Link's raised shield, and the Kokiri's retaliation was swift, his short blade flying up even as the blade bounced off the wood. The enchanted sword sheared straight through the monster's wrist, and it howled in pain as its sword and hand fell to the floor. It spun and leapt away, even as two more pursuers burst through the steam, rushing straight at Link. The Kokiri fell back, ducking and diving, his shield raised and swords deflecting off it.

Navi cut through the air, seemingly from nowhere, and slammed into one lizardman's head, stunning it for an instant. Link whirled and spun low, his sword flying out and taking the lizardman in one of its ankles, sending it crashing to the floor with a screech of pain. The second beast rushed at the boy, slashing hard, and Link's shield spun to meet it. Navi attacked again, and the monster squealed as the fairy impacted with one of its eyes, her tiny fairy hands punching into its retina. Link spun around the deflected sword, his own blade sliding into the monster's armpit and sending it stumbling backward, dark fire jetting out of its flank.

Link pivoted on the other wounded beast as it tried to rise, and his sword struck fast and hard, into the monster's throat. It flopped back, clutching its wound as it died, black fire flowing from between its fingers. The Kokiri, his heart hammering in his chest as adrenaline and battle fury filled him, turned on the second wounded lizardman, and leapt at it. It raised its sword, but the shield in Link's right hand blocked its edge, and the Kokiri Sword stabbed into the creature's chest. Black flame flowed over Link and the monster collapsed backward, burning away into ash.

* * *

"Small," came the pitiful hissing of Sssindrad's wounded warrior as he came running back through the steam. "Small but dangerous!" Sssindrad snarled, knowing that this child was the one Ganondorf's messenger Keese had warned him of. The Lizalfos commander looked to his wounded, cowardly subordinate, and without a word, his broadsword flew across, taking the worthless creature's head.

The bestial commander leapt through the steam, to see the burning remains of his other warriors, and the Kokiri child panting but unharmed. With a roaring challenge, Sssindrad strode forward, remembering Ganondorf's standing orders: _destroy the Kokiri boy with the blond hair and blue fairy on sight._

* * *

The huge lizardman stalked toward link, its snarl echoing in his ears as it advanced. It was a head taller than the other lizardmen had been, and its sword was twice theirs' size. But Link, full of adrenaline and having just defeated four of its fellows, advanced fearlessly. With a growl that rattled Link's bones, the beast shot toward him when they were less than five paces apart, the sword cleaving down at the boy. Link skipped aside, evading the heavy blade, and shot forward, his own small blade slashing at the monster's knee-

-and ringing against its metal shield. The beast snapped its shield arm upward, against the Kokiri's arms, and the power in the swing threw the light boy up into the air and back across the platform. He rolled across the quartz floor and halted at the edge of one of the crevices, steam washing against his face as he scrambled up onto his feet. The huge lizardman advanced, but suddenly halted as Navi flew in front of its face. Unlike the others, however, this monster was less disoriented and more annoyed, taking a swift swipe at the fairy, and then ignoring her. She danced in front of its face again, trying to blind it, and the monster snapped its jaws at her, forcing the brave fey to retreat for an instant, but in that moment, Link was already running forward, and leapt up at the lizardman, inside the reach of its sword before it could counter.

The beast raised its shield, and the Kokiri's own shield slammed into the beast's barrier. However, the Kokiri Sword was not halted, and stabbed down into the lizardman's sword shoulder. Black fire burst forth, and the huge monster swept its shield arm outward, throwing Link off. The boy hit the ground on both feet, in a low crouch, sword at the ready and shield raised.

The lizardman snorted, and Link thought it sounded almost respectful. The creature circled, stalking around Link, and instinctively, Link matched its movements. They met eyes, and the Kokiri knew he was fighting a dangerous foe right now, and enemy who knew how to fight and use its weapons. A twinge of fear struck the Kokiri's heart as he realized he was in serious danger dueling this enemy, but he swallowed that fear, knowing it would do him no good. Navi fluttered up beside him as he circled, and finally, the lizardman snorted again, this time in impatience.

The sword flew out in a sudden slice, but Link was already ducking below the stroke and rolling to the beast's right side. The small sword in Link's hand thrust out, but the lizardman had already brought its shield down, catching the strike. However, Link spun around the shield, and his small blade slashed down, into the monster's ankle, and it howled in pain as it turned to face the agile Kokiri. The heavy blade cut down, and Link leapt back, snapping up his shield to block the blow. The impact numbed the Kokiri's arm as it smashed him down and backward, but before the lizardman could follow through the attack, Navi's azure glow distracted the monster, and Link was on his feet and away from the enemy. The Kokiri spared a glance at his shield, and was dismayed to find the magical bark had a notch in the top where the sword had struck.

The lizardman hissed, moving with a limp, and followed after Link, ignoring Navi's attempts to distract it. The broadsword shot down at Link, and he ducked underneath it. The blade came down in a stab, but Link was skipping aside as it buried in the quartz, and rolled around behind the monster. He came out of the roll leaping at his foe, sword flying out in a wild slash that took the monster in the flank and drew more black flame. It spun on him, howling in rage and pain, and cleaved down with the broadsword. The blade missed the agile Kokiri completely, and gouged a furrow in the quartz as it struck the platform.

Then Link was _there_, leaping onto the sword's flat before the monster could pull the blade free, and the Kokiri Sword stabbed down into the beast's wrist. The lizardman thundered in pain as it released the sword, and at that moment, Navi attacked again, striking the beast's eyes and sending the creature reeling backward. Link leapt up, scrambling up the monster's arm, his shield arm hooking around its neck as he flipped the Kokiri Sword over in his hand. Link fell into place behind the monster, hanging from its neck, and stabbed _hard,_ his blade burying into the monster's head and driving into its brain.

The huge lizardman toppled forward like a puppet whose strings had been cut, a burst of black fire erupting from its head as Link dropped off its back. The body caught aflame, the fires consuming its corpse almost before it had hit the stone, and within moments it had faded to scattered, drifting ash, leaving behind only its weapon and shield.

Link sat down, dropping his sword to the stone, and let out a shuddering exhalation.

"That was too close," he muttered, and Navi bobbed over his head.

"You're not hurt, are you?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"A few scrapes and bruises, but I'm fine," he replied, flexing his aching shield arm. If the Deku Shield hadn't held . . . .

"Link!" came a call from the far end of the cavern, and through the rising steam Link could see Darunia stomping into the chamber. The Kokiri waved and clambered up onto his feet, recovering his gear, and jumped across the crevice to rejoin the Gorons.

"A great victory!" Darunia declared, hammering his chest. "We have smashed the lizard attackers completely! Not one survived, and no Goron was even seriously harmed in the battle!" The patriarch glanced around the room, and frowned. "I saw you being pursued by many foes into this chamber, but I see no enemies." Darunia looked down at Link, and an incredulous expression stretched across his face.

"Did you slay all of your foes?" he asked, and Link nodded, tiredly. Darunia blinked, and then let out a massive, booming laugh.

"Incredible! One so small as you fought with the skill of ten Gorons! Come, Link, we must tell the others of our victory, and then open the way through the Emperor's Skull!"

* * *

The rest of the passage through the caverns was swift and uneventful. With the exception of a few dodongos that needed to be crushed, no more enemies emerged to challenge them. As the Gorons rumbled through the caves, Darunia told Link of the battle against the lizards, and how the enemy kept hurling themselves at the Gorons, no matter how badly they were beaten. He estimated that close to sixty of the beasts had been slain in the battle, not including the ones Link had felled.

After nearly an hour of trudging through the caves, the band of Gorons and their Kokiri companion found their way onto a cliff overlooking the main chamber. Down below, Barock and his own band had returned, and they called up, telling Darunia's group that the only passage they found that would go the bridge was blocked off by a collapse. But that was no matter, since Darunia's group had already reached their objective anyway.

Link started across, with one of the bombs Darunia had given him in hand. He walked carefully across the wooden bridge, and checked to make sure that he was directly over the open eye socket of the Emperor Dodongo's skull. He lit the bomb and quickly dropped it, and nodded as he saw it fall into the large hole. A moment later, there was a socking explosion, and the skull shook. Link repeated the process at the other eye socket, and the entire cavern shook as the mechanisms buried within the skull moved. Below, Barock's troops cheered, and from his vantage point, Link could see the immense jaw slowly lower to the ground, settling to the stone with a deep _thoomp_.

Fifteen minutes later, Link, Darunia, and their Goron group had returned to the main chamber, where Barock's troops were waiting.

"The western side of the caverns are clear, Brother!" Barock reported, and Darunia nodded.

"There was heavy fighting in the east, but those passages are cleared of lizard intruders!" the patriarch said.

"Then all that remains are the heart of the caves, where the best mining takes place," Barock mused, nodding.

"Then let us not delay! I hunger for good, crunchy sirloin stone!" Darunia proclaimed, and the Gorons let out a collective whoop. As one, the walking boulders and their Kokiri ally started toward the Emperor Dodongo's skull and the gaping passage within the mouth of the dead beast's head.

Link and Darunia led the way into the passages beyond, weapons at the ready. A series of paths branched off from the chambers beyond the skull corridor, and teams of Gorons split off to search those areas while the main group continued down the central passageway. The area beyond turned a little bit as they advanced, and as the group continued on, they stepped into a larger, more brightly lit chamber, glittering with precious ores and light from cracks in the floor.

"Be wary," Darunia warned Link as they walked into the room. "This chamber may not be stable with the lava flows recent-"

_Crack._

"Back!" Darunia shouted, and the Gorons at the entrance to the chamber retreated, while he and Link turned and started to scramble back out of the room. However, the words had barley left Darunia's mouth when the floor abruptly gave way, and both Kokiri and Goron went tumbling down into another area below.

It was less than twenty feet to the floor below, and the hardened Goron took the impact well enough, while Link hit the floor in a roll, avoiding breaking anything vital. He came to a stop and shook his head, looking around, to see he had landed in a large chamber that shone like the one above, but with bright lava floes in the middle of the room. The pool of magma bubbled quietly, but was otherwise still.

"Link, are you injured?" Darunia called, and the Kokiri clambered to his feet, shaking his head.

"No, I think I'm fine," he replied, turning to face Darunia . . . and stopping in mid-motion.

"What is it?" the Goron asked, and frowned as Link kept staring. "Do I have some quartz in my teeth?" The Goron scratched his teeth for a moment, and then realized that Link wasn't looking at Darunia, but _behind_ him. The Goron turned, and looked _up._

It stood twice the Goron's height, and its eyes were the size of Darunia's head. Immense green scales as thick as armor plate lined its hide, and its teeth were as huge as longswords. Fire flowed from its mouth and nostrils as the titanic Dodongo peered down at the pair of intruders, and it finally let out a earth-shaking roar in their faces, the sheer force almost knocking Link off his feet.

"Oh," Darunia replied, his tone nonchalant. "A King Dodongo. We _may_ be slightly doomed."

"Slightly?" Link hissed, and as he spoke the Kokiri could hear sharp intake of air, and his hair flew forward as the King Dodongo _inhaled._

"Aside!" Darunia shouted, and both he and Link leapt out of the way, and a split-second later a wall of fire jetted past where they had been standing. Link rolled up onto his feet, blade in hand, but he had a terrible feeling that his tiny weapon would do no good against such a huge monster.

The immense dodongo stomped forward, fire belching from its mouth, and Link gave way. It seemed to focus on him, ignoring Darunia, and the Goron patriarch took advantage of this. Circling around, Darunia approached the beast's flank as the dodongo inhaled a second time. Link turned and dove aside, and another massive stream of searing flame cut past, nearly setting the boy ablaze.

Then, with a mighty battlecry, Darunia leapt upon the dodongo's backside, grasping its tail and punching at the vulnerable hindquarters. The giant lizard stopped in its tracks and looked back, and with a confused growl, spun, whipping its tail. Link threw himself to the ground to dodge the striking appendage, and Darunia lost his grip in the wild swing. The Goron chieftain went flying across the room, skipping over the lava at the center of the cave and coming up on the other side.

The great dragon turned back toward its prey, and Link continued moving away from the beast, not sure how to fight it. The monster's strength was incredible if it could simply toss the Goron leader away with such casual ease. It advanced on Link, and inhaled again, opening its mouth.

"Link, the mouth!" Navi suddenly called, and the Kokiri blinked, confused, before he saw what Navi was indicating. The monster's scales were hard, probably impenetrable except at the throat, but its mouth was open and exposed while it was inhaling.

He didn't have time to take advantage of that realization, for the beast had finished taking in breath, and the Kokiri dove aside desperately, white-hot fire blasting past him. He came up in a crouch, and sheathed his blade, instead taking out one of Darunia's bombs. He readied the match, as the Goron had instructed him, and waited for the dodongo to take note of his new position. It quickly turned to face him, and Link realized just how unintelligent the great creature was as he lit the bomb.

The dodongo's jaws opened and it began to inhale when the small grenade flew into its mouth. Before the monster could realize what had just happened, the bomb detonated. Link expected the creature to be shocked by the blast, maybe injured, but he didn't expect it to let out a wheeze of agony and flop on the ground, panting and stunned. When he got over his own momentary shock, the Kokiri bolted forward, tearing his sword out, and ran alongside the monster and its exposed throat. The Kokiri Sword flew up, and stabbed down, puncturing the soft hide around the neck.

The response was immediate. The beast was stunned by the grenade it had swallowed, but it was knocked out of the daze by the blade piercing its throat. The huge head flew across as the beast jerked and spasmed, and crashed into the Kokiri, hurling Link off his feet and across the room. Growling and hissing, the great dodongo stood back up, shaking its head, and turned toward Link, intent on finishing the Kokiri where he lay. It began to inhale, and then let out a growl of pain as an explosion hammered its backside.

"Do you want proper prey, King Dodongo?" declared Darunia, lighting another bomb and hurling it at the monster as he ran around the chamber, trying to rejoin the embattled Kokiri. "A true Goron warrior stands over here! Face me!"

The dodongo, too stupid to understand the taunts, ignored the next blast and turned back to Link, inhaling once more-

-only now, Link was standing and had another bomb lit and in hand. The grenade sailed through the air and rolled down the King Dodongo's gullet and detonated, causing the great monster to crash to the stone again, coughing and gasping. Link dashed forward again, sword in hand, but decided to go for an better target than the throat. As he neared the monster, the Kokiri leapt up, grabbing onto the side of the beast's head and clambering up toward its eye. His right hand dug into the edge of a heavy armor scale while the left one flipped the Kokiri Sword over and stabbed down into the monster's eye.

Its cries of pain shook the boy to his bones, and it spasmed violently. The Kokiri was thrown off and crashed to the floor, rolling away and jumping to his feet. A detonation filled the air as Darunia threw another bomb at the monster's head, and it backed away a step.

"This fire-beast looks thirsty, Link!" Darunia shouted, lighting another bomb. "Give him a drink of lava!" Link nodded, pulling out a bomb of his own. He let fly, at the same time as Darunia, and the bomb blasts forced the great dragon backwards, toward the central pool of lava. It shook its head, roaring, and tried to inhale, but the volley of concussive blasts hammering its head sent the monster reeling. Its tail dipped into the pool, and both Kokiri and Goron hurled their next bombs at the same moment. The blast sent the massive beast stumbling backwards, and with an agonized roar, the creature lost its footing and slid into the lava.

The next moments were filled with a terrible thrashing and shaking as the monster fought to get clear of the lava pool. Fire belched from its throat and lava splattered against stone as its legs flailed wildly. Darunia and Link retreated, getting clear of the storm of molten stone as the monster sank down, the creature frying under the intense heat.

Within a few more moments, the monster let out another agonized gasp and finally went still, its head barely poking out of the lava pool as its body slowly succumbed to the heat and pressure.

"Victory!" Darunia proclaimed, thrusting both hands in the air, and both he and Link burst into cheers, Navi joining in with her high pitched voice.

The Dodongo Cavern had been cleansed.

* * *

On the lowest level of Goron City, Darunia had called for a celebration of the victory in the Dodongo Caverns. A thousand of the boulder-like people had gathered, ringing the high terraces. Throaty Goron cheers filled the chamber, sounding for all the world like a horde of yodeling avalanches. The Gorons had rarely rolled off to battle, and though this had simply started as a dodongo clearing mission, it had developed into a huge battle in the tunnels against the lizardmen and the great King Dodongo at the heart of the caves. For too long had the mountain folk been without an exhilarating battle, and thus, the Gorons were celebrating like they hadn't had in decades.

At the center of the lowest floor stood Darunia, with Barock beside him and Link standing before the patriarch. The great Goron raised his hands, silencing the crowds, and gestured to Link.

"Gorons of Death Mountain!" he shouted. "We have always been allies with the great people of Hyrule, and today has shown us one of the many reasons we are comrades! Today, this boy, though half our height and a tenth our weight, marched alongside us as we cleansed the Dodongo Cavern of the beasts within! There, he fought with the bravery and courage of ten Gorons, and were it not for him I doubt we would have overcome the King Dodongo at the heart of the infestation without suffering terrible losses. Almost by himself did he battle the great beast, and his courage was insurmountable even when cornered by multitudes of the foul lizards!" Darunia turned to Link, and hammered his chest.

"Gorons, know this boy's name! He is Link, and I proclaim him by his deeds and courage to be our Sworn Brother!" The Gorons' cheers filled the city once again, threatening to bring down the whole cavern with their volume.

"Today, you came here for the Spiritual Stone of Fire, or as we name it, the Goron's Ruby," Darunia said. "On a mission from the Princess of Hyrule herself. You have more than proven your worth today, Link, and I gladly present to you the Spiritual Stone!" Darunia raised his hand into the air, and a glittering red ruby, laced in gold, was visible in his hand. He lowered his arm reverently, and extended the stone to his Sworn Brother. Link took the gleaming crimson gem, and gave Darunia a simple but gracious bow.

As the Ruby changed hands, the Gorons cheered once again, and Darunia raised both hands into the air.

"Let all Gorons remember the tale today of Link, the Dodongo Buster and Hero of Death Mountain!" His final words were barely audible over the roar of enthusiastic Gorons and the stomping of feet. Link basked in the power of the Goron people, awed. Like the mountain they dwelled upon, they were quiet and sleepy most of the time, but when roused, by war or celebration, the great stone people were a sight to behold.

"Now, Gorons! Brothers! Let us see off our new friend! He has a long journey ahead of himself!" The Gorons' cheered resounded again, and Link feared he would go deaf under the power in their voices. Barock strode forward, laughing and extending his huge, stony hands.

"How about a big Goron hug, Brother?" he shouted, and Link paled, knowing just how strong these huge creatures were. Several other Gorons started forward as well, intending to give the Kokiri a huge group hug with their rocky arms.

The boy wisely backed off, and took off running for his own safety. Darunia, for his part, simply burst into laughter as Link fled.

"Come back anytime, Brother!" he shouted. "Goron City will always be a safe haven for you on your journey, Link! Good luck!"

* * *

The same red eyes that had watched the Gorons defeat the dodongos had seen Sssindrad fall and the King Dodongo set ablaze by its own stupidity. High in the ceiling of Goron City, they had watched the Kokiri boy receive the Goron's Ruby, and once that happened, they took to the air, flying out of the mountain folk's caves.

Hours later, as he stood on one of Hyrule Castle's many balconies, the red-haired King of the Gerudo was waiting for his messengers to return. They landed on his shoulders and spoke into his ears using his dark sorcery.

An equally dark smile spread across Ganondorf's features, and he dismissed his minions with a new message. The Keese took to the air as the Gerudo turned and walked back inside.

"I knew that kid was more than he let on," the sorcerer king whispered, and chuckled. "Let him continue on his little adventure for now. Either way, it's only a matter of time for me . . . ."

* * *

-

* * *

One thing I realized while writing this chapter was that, while Link and Navi travel and fight through the many dungeons on their own, very often in Ocarina there are supposed to be other characters in or near the dungeons as well, so the pair often aren't alone as they fight. This gives me a few more options with writing the different characters and to make otherwise minor supporting characters like Darunia and Impa be much more important, and provide for more happening in each dungeon than Link owning the hell out of various monsters. Of course, if I need to I can just make up original characters,too, such as Barock and Sssindrad. Ocarina gives me a lot of leeway in what I can do, as not a whole lot of what actually _happens_ is defined (unlike RPGs such as FFVIII, for example); taking liberties and adapting the tale is thus not only necessary but quite fun.

This chapter, I worked on solidifying Link's fighting style. As I said before in previous chapters, I was basing the younger Link's style on a specific method of fighting that fits him well, and became very apparent in this chapter - specifically, the defensive style of Roman Legionarres, who would raise their shields and strike around them when their enemies exposed themselves while attacking. It's a very conservative and defensive style, and it fits perfectly with the child Link's relative inexperience and his short blade, which is almost exactly like the gladius swords used by the Romans. Of course, once Link gets older, and gets a sword and shield that suit him better for bashing and aggression...heh. Navi also played a much bigger role in combat this time around, and I'm going to work at making her much more helpful for Link; a big problem I've personally got is that I'm tending to focus on Link and not Navi, as Navi is, by her very nature, a kind of passive character, and isn't the one jumping around, yelling, and stabbing monsters in the face.

While writing this chapter, I was listening to the soundtrack of 300, and was using songs like _Fever Dream_ and _To Victory_ during the battles, especially the Lizalfos battle. I also threw in an adapted 300 quote, too, for fun. Points if you find it. :D

In the next installment, expect a lot less fighting and a bit more character and plot development.

Until next chapter . . . .


	9. Chapter VIII: At Rest

_**Chapter VIII: At Rest**_

"So, this is it, huh?" Link asked as he walked up the base of the hill, Navi floating beside him. Ahead of the pair, at the top of the small hill, was a tall wall of wood, a high fence that ringed a series of large buildings. Smoke rose from a chimney inside, and the Kokiri and his guardian could hear the cries of the huge animals that had driven the cart that he had ridden into Hyrule.

"It has to be," Navi replied, peering down at the map Impa had given them. "Right here, along the path toward the river."

"Lon Lon Ranch," Link mused, looking back up at the series of buildings, and he started circling around it.

It had been two days since they had won the Goron's Ruby from Darunia, and in those two days, the Kokiri and his guardian had been searching for Zora's Domain using the map Impa had given them. They knew it was at the source of the huge river that passed before Hyrule Castle and fed all the myriad streams of the kingdom, so the pair had simply followed the river outside Kakariko Village to its source. But as Link consulted his map, he saw something else that piqued his attention, and had broken off from the river as he figured they neared it: Lon Lon Ranch, where Malon and Talon had said they came from.

As the first Hylians Link had actually met on his journey, they had become quick friends while riding into the city, and Link had promised himself that he would visit their ranch at some point on his journey, to see all the animals that Malon had talked about. He hadn't expected that he would run into their ranch while heading for Zora's Domain, and while he was on a very important mission for Princess Zelda, he still had time to rest and explore the rest of Hyrule with his own eyes.

The ranch stood high on the hill, and was surrounded by a thick, solid wooden fence backed by stone foundations. Link and Navi wandered around the outside of the fence for a while, looking for the entrance, and as they reached the eastern side they caught sight of an entry through the solid wall. However, as the Kokiri and his guardian made their way toward it, they heard a wild screeching sound, and a surprised yell. The clatter of horse hooves on the ground could be heard over the pounding of immense legs, and Link saw one of the huge animals charging straight out of the entrance, right toward him. With a shout of surprise, Link dove aside, even as he caught a flash of red hair on the back of the huge creature.

"Whoa, whoa!" Link recognized the voice, though certainly not her tone, and as the horse barreled past, he spotted Malon on the animal's back, yelling and tugging at the creature's reins. For a moment Link feared for the girl's safety, but to his amazement, she turned the horse, slowing down its run as it circled around, and brought the animal back under control even as she turned it all the way back toward the ranch. As the animal slowed and trotted back up the hill, Link's keen ears could hear the little girl whispering soothing words into its ears, and the animal snorted softly.

"Malon!" Link called, and waved a hand. The red-haired girl perked up, recognizing his voice, and spotted the boy far below her. Her laughter echoed off the ranch walls as she dropped off the side of the horse and plummeted to the grass, and bounded toward him.

"Link! Where have you been?" she asked, and noted the grime on his clothes, along with the burns and bruises.

"Around," he replied with a grin. "I was headed this way, and I saw your ranch was on the map, so I came by to see you guys."

"Well, come on inside!" she said, and gestured toward the ranch, taking the reins of the great horse in one hand. "Its not as crazy as you'd think, with me having to run down Fallia like this. Epona's a lot worse . . . Come on!"

Link followed the girl up the hill toward the ranch's entrance. As they walked, she explained how the mare broke out of the pastures inside the ranch and had run loose.

"Dad was inside, taking care of the chickens, and Ingo was inside moving hay, and Fallia wasn't slowing down. So, I climbed up onto the fence and jumped onto her back. She didn't like that, and jumped the gates! But I got her under control, just like how Dad taught me."

"How can you control something so big?" Link asked as they passed through the high wooden fence.

"We train the horses from the time they're foals," she replied, patting the mare's flank, and Fallia snorted in appreciation. "They've been bred to be smart and taught to listen to human riders. Lon Lon has the best horses in Hyrule!" Link nodded as he listened, and looked up to the great animal's head, held high and proud, and wondered if he could one day master an animal like Malon and the Hylians could. He imagined how it would feel to sit atop one of these mighty horses and ride across the plains, and part of his heart longed to experience that. But Link was just a small Kokiri, and these Hylian horses were bred for Hylians, not for the forest children.

The interior of the ranch's high walls was large and open. The tall Hylian grasses were kept cut low, but Malon explained that this was the work of the horses and cattle they raised. Though the animals were small in number - a few dozen, she said - they were enough to keep the grasses from rising as high as they did in the fields. A few wooden buildings - sheds, a huge barn, and the farmhouse the ranchers lived in - were raised, but the rest of the ranch's heart was open ground, separated by a series of fences into the pastures and fields for the animals.

"Why do you have that big fence around the ranch?" Link asked, pointing to the high wooden and stone walls crowning the hill.

"Keeping the horses from escaping," Malon said with a chuckle. "We breed them smart, but spirited. When a horse gets loose . . . Well, you saw what happened with Fallia earlier. I don't think any of our horses can jump that fence . . . Except maybe Epona when she grows up."

"Which one is Epona?" Link asked as they walked out into the central pasture. Malon gestured toward one of the horse pens, and toward a russet foal that was grazing in the middle of the field.

"She's the best horse we have, but she's wild," Malon said, leading Fallia into the pen, and then heading toward the foal, Link following. As they neared, the horse looked up, and turned her black eyes on Link. With a high-pitched but loud whinny, the foal turned and began to trot away, and Malon frowned.

"She never does that with me," she remarked, and glanced at Link. "I think she's scared of you."

"Why would I scare her?" Link asked, and Malon sniffed the air, and waved a hand in front of her face.

"Because you're nasty, Link!" she answered, and giggled. "I'd be scared of you too! Come on, let's go in the house and get you cleaned up. Maybe you can tell me how you got so dirty, too!"

* * *

The rest of the day passed by in a wild blur. As soon as Malon brought him inside the farmhouse, Talon had let out a wild cheer of glee and bought the tiny Kokiri into a huge bear hug that left Link wondering what the Gorons could have done to his body. From the corner of his eye, Link had spotted a taller, skinnier Hylian man with a narrow mustache and an annoyed glare set into his face as he moved boxes around the interior of the house. Malon introduced the surly man as Ingo, their hired farm hand. 

Soon enough Malon and her father had drawn up and heated some water, and had practically tossed Link inside before he could get his clothes off. Unlike Hylians, the Kokiri were not strict and proper about clothing, and Malon had turned away in embarrassment when Link had casually tossed his tunic and shorts off. The hot water was a new experience to the boy, who had grown up bathing in cool forest rivers and lakes, and he was even more confused when Malon handed him a strange-smelling bar of slippery substance.

"What is this?" he asked as he sniffed it, confused at the smell.

"Soap," she replied, and he blinked, not sure what to do with it. It smelled a little bit like the ash he'd encountered in the Dodongo Cavern, actually . . . .

He _eventually_ figured out how to use it, but the scent it left on him tickled his Kokiri nose, which had been raised around the smells of the forest, not of the "civilized" world. He climbed out of the bath refreshed and clean, and in true Kokiri fashion, promptly ruined the whole thing as soon as he stepped outside, playfully tackling Malon into the dirt. She got her revenge an hour later in the form of a flying pail of water to the boy's face.

Later in the day, Link poked his head into the chicken coop, and found Talon scrambling to keep up with a cloud of feathers and a cacophony of squawking birds that had broken loose. The boy dove in, not even needing to be told what to do, and helped sort out the tidal wave of animals. Within minutes both the big Hylian and the little Kokiri were sitting on the floor, drinking milk and laughing as they finished putting the birds in place.

The sun passed, and night settled in. The ranch and its guest settled into slumber, and for the Kokiri boy, it was a well-deserved rest. Each night he had spent walking from Death Mountain had been fitful, filled with a desire to continue his mission, but here, in this peaceful place, Link found a bit of real rest. He slept well that evening, but while the child of the forest slumbered, his quiet, near-unnoticed guardian did _not_.

* * *

Navi, too, had been fitful in her rest, ever since they had left Death Mountain, for as they had departed from the great, sacred home of the Gorons, she had felt a force tugging upon her. It was an ancient power, subtle but undeniable, a song that struck her in her heart, at the magical spark that resided within her body. It was something she did not willingly resist, and only held back on because she would not abandon her charge in the wilds. Thus she had stayed alert, and had said nothing as he deviated to Lon Lon Ranch, welcoming his choice to rest in a safe place. 

When Link had finally settled into rest that night, the azure glow of his guardian emerged from the brim of his cap, and quietly made her way outside, under the cool open air of the stars and the Hylian night. She swiftly ascended into the sky, and her wings propelled her across the fields. Her path was straight and true, and she moved with a speed that made her seem as a blue lightning bolt, a wisp of illumination that passed as a ghost in the darkness. The moon and the stars drifted overhead, and in a matter of hours the guardian fairy had covered what had taken Link _days_ to cross on his little feet. The grass faded to barren rock, and she flew higher and faster, toward the crown of Death Mountain.

At the peak of the volcano, the towering top of the mighty volcano, Navi was drawn into a crevice hidden within. She could sense the presence of what was pulling upon her, a force that had become aware of the fairy and her charge as they had set foot on Death Mountain. Now she had finally answered its call, and as she descended into the side of the mountain, the stone began to glow with an ethereal light.

Navi passed through a tall archway deep within the cavern, and entered a glittering chamber shining with eldritch energy, magic flowing through the air like drifting incense. She drank deep of the magic, and floated toward the center of the hidden cave, where, within pure white stone crafted and worked by no mortal's hands, was clear water the likes of which flowed in no river or lake of Hyrule.

"_Welcome, Navi,"_ came a whisper, and the fairy's glow brightened as she felt the familiar caress of that voice, one she had not heard in centuries. The forest fairy looked around the room, and behind the gleam of her otherworldly light, she smiled.

"Its good to hear from you again," she said. "Its been a long time."

"_You were born to dwell in the forest, Navi," _the voice said. _"And there you should have forever remained, a guardian of the wood. But you have abandoned the forest to remain as a ward for the child who carries the Kokiri Sword and bears the weight of the Great Deku Tree's last words."_

"I thought you would notice us when we got near the mountain," Navi replied. "I am sorry that I could not answer your call sooner."

The water rippled, and a spark of light emerged from within. The entity embodied within that spark laughed, a soft sound that could invoke devotion and awe in a human's heart. To eyes unlike Navi's, it would take on a form most pleasing to a mortal mind, but the guardian fairy could see the entity for her true self; though but a tiny mote of light compared to the azure glow of Navi, her power was far beyond the sprite.

The Great Fairy of Death Mountain, one of the sovereign spirits who looked over the realm of Hyrule and governed the fairies of the realm, regarded her fellow spirit for a long moment.

"_You have sensed it, haven't you?" _the Great Fairy asked. _"Your charge is unlike the forest children you and yours have served for centuries untold."_

"The Deku Tree did speak of his destiny," Navi said with a nod. "There was always something strange about him. Other fairies bond naturally, but I was _chosen_ to protect him. Even now, it feels different from what other guardians and Kokiri feel when we're together."

"_You and he are companions, allies and friends," _the Great Fairy said. _"To Kokiri, however, their guardians are extensions of themselves. You have not felt this?"_

"No, Great Fairy," Navi admitted. "I wondered what it would be like when I finally got my own charge, but it isn't anything like what the other fairies have described."

"_There is a reason for this," _the Great Fairy said, and then remained silent for a while.

"Why?" Navi asked.

"_In due time," _the Great Fairy replied. _"The boy has a destiny before him, and so do _you_, Navi. You and he must journey together and learn together. The great guardians must not reveal what we have been privileged to know . . . but that does not mean we are not allowed to intervene."_

Navi waited patiently, knowing that the Great Fairy's wisdom was far more vast than hers, just as a tiny creek was so much smaller than an immense, rushing river.

"_I will be honest in saying that by himself, the boy stands no chance," _the Great Fairy continued. _"Alone he is but a sapling in the face of a rushing storm that would flatten a mountain. He will need the aid of others, some of whom he has already met and others which remain hidden at this moment."_

"What can we do to help him?"

"_You must remain his defender and protector," _the Great Fairy replied. _"But even more importantly, you must carry something greater than yourself. He has great strength of arms and infallible courage, but that alone will not be enough. He must gain access to more than just the power in his body and the physical, martial arts. Young Link requires a mastery of the eldritch."_

"Magic?" Navi asked, and the Great Fairy nodded. "But how?"

"_His mind is sharp, but he has neither the resources nor the time to train in the use of wizardry."_ The Great Fairy paused, and she chuckled. _"Time. Ironic. But studies and lore are only one way to access magic. For one such as our enemy, Ganondorf, magic is natural, and the curious circumstances of his life gave him access to far more power than he should have ever awakened to. Perhaps that was why he was so corrupted, but that is mere speculation. I have decided to gift Link with a mote of strength, a divine blessing of the arcane, a means to access wizardry and sorcery that is dependant on his will and his heart, and not on his mind or his emotions. _

"_And you, Navi, must bring this gift to him."_

* * *

He tried the notes once again, remembering the way they had played and sang on the trip to Hyrule Castle. The peaceful flow of her voice filled the air, accompanied by the comforting melodies of the ocarina in his hands. Even as he played the music, he felt a sense of calm and content flowing through him and drifting along on the morning breeze. 

Link heard the faint clatter of small hooves over the melody of his song, and opened his eyes to see the russet foal approaching, head held high as she neared. It wasn't until the young horse was but a few feet away that Link realized Malon had ceased singing her song, and was allowing him to play his version.

"My mother taught me this song," Malon had said. "She said it always helped calm the animals when they were skittish, and Epona loves it the most." The foal paused next to Link, looking at him with her large black eyes, and snorted quietly. He ended Malon's melody, and reached hand forward, touching the young horse on the top of her head. Epona's small ears flapped slightly, and she stepped closer, letting Link scratch her along the back of her head.

"I think she likes you, Link," Malon said with a laugh, and patted the foal along her flank. Link joined in her laughter, happy to have brought the little horse around. She was far too young to ride, and Link knew that by the time Epona would be old enough to be saddled, she would be too big for his tiny body, but he was content with making friends.

The sun reached its apex, and after eating a hearty lunch with the family, the Kokiri reluctantly bid his friends a farewell. They waved him off as he set out of the ranch and back into the fields of Hyrule, his spirits raised and body rested by the brief stay. Link promised to return as soon as he was able, and then disappeared among the high grasses, headed once again for Zora's Domain.

"Hey, Navi, you awake?" he asked as he paused a few hours later, sitting on a stump among a small grove of trees. He had noticed Navi was unusually sleepy that morning, barely mumbling as he had awoken, but as the day wore on he had become more concerned, the little sprite having stayed within his cap for most of the day, even as he had worked his way across the field.

"Mm?" he heard, and the shaded grove lit up as the sprite poked her head out of the brim of the floppy green hat.

"You've been napping all morning," he remarked. "I thought you said _I_ was the lazy one." He felt the fairy move around in his hat for a moment, before hearing a quiet, high-pitched yawn, and then Navi fluttered out of the hat, turning to face him.

"I'm sorry, I was . . . busy last night." She fluttered slightly, her glow dimming in apology.

"Doing what?" Link asked, leaning forward, curious.

"Meeting with a relation of mine," she replied. "When we stepped onto Death Mountain, she noticed us, and wanted to speak with me."

"Another fairy?" Link asked, now very interested. He was about to fall off the stump by now. "What did she want?"

"Well, it was about our mission, actually," Navi continued. "She knew something about what we were doing, and wanted to help us, so . . . ." The azure glow of the fairy began to flicker, and shift colors slightly. Then, before Navi there emerged a shimmering gold mote of light, hovering in the air. Link's eyes fixed on that, when it suddenly broke apart into a thousand pinpricks of illumination, swirling around the boy before brightening. Without warning the glowing lights suddenly shot into Link's body, pushing right through his clothes and skin and bursting beneath. Within the Kokiri's body, a strange warmth surged through him, the presence of something new pulsing through his veins and muscles, coursing and twisting through him.

"Whoa," Link whispered as the sensation worked its way through his body,. It wasn't painful, and in fact Link felt stronger and more aware of himself and his surroundings as the energy pulsed through his body. As the seconds passed, however, the sensation began to fade, and within a couple of minutes he felt completely normal again.

"Navi, what was that?" he asked, to which the sprite gestured with her illumination toward his sword.

"Come on," she replied, and floated away from the grove. Link grabbed his blade and rushed after her, a new spring in his step. He had no idea what had just happened, but he felt invigorated, even more so than after his stay at the ranch.

Navi stopped a short distance away from the trees, over the thick and high grass, and waited for Link to catch up. Within moments he was beneath her, waiting for her to explain what had just happened.

"The Great Fairy of Death Mountain wanted to help us, so she gave me something to pass on to you," Navi explained. "The gift of magic." Link's eyes widened, and he looked at his arms and body, and then back up at his guardian.

"What can I do with it?" he asked. Magic, or at least _true_ magic, the wizardry and sorcery used by robed mages, was not something that the Kokiri studied often, instead relying on the mystical power of their homeland and their guardians to protect them. It was ironic that, bathed in magic for their whole lives, the forest folk were not inclined to use it overtly. Link himself had never felt the need to learn and study the ways of the arcane and eldritch, but out here in the openness of Hyrule, surrounded by enemies and danger, magic could be a useful ally.

"The Great Fairy didn't gift me with any real spells," Navi explained. "Nothing flashy or explosive. But she did give me something that could help your sword skills." She drifted down closer to him, directly in front of his face. "What I gave you was the power to access magic directly, without having to study it for decades to learn how to manipulate it yourself. You can't learn much with it, but what you _can_ do will be very easy and powerful. Close your eyes."

Link did so, and as he waited, listening for Navi, he could almost feel her surrounding him, his guardian's voice coming from every direction as she spoke in his ears.

_"Still your breathing,"_ she whispered, and he did so, slowing his inhalations. As he did so, Link could feel the energy within his body more faintly, pulsing with every beat of his heart. It was something he hadn't been aware of before, an essence pumping and coursing through his body.

_"You can feel it, can't you?"_ the surrounding voice murmured, and he slowly nodded. _"That is _you_. Your spirit, your own energy. What some call _chi_ or 'life force.' The magic gifted to you opened your own eyes to that inner beat of your soul, to let you use that as a tool._

_"Now, ready your sword."_ Link gripped his blade tightly, and held it out before him. He kept his breath steady, focusing on his inner strength and energy as the voice continued.

_"You feel your life force . . . and it can feel your mind. You are inseparable, and now that you've become aware of it, you can use your own soul and your own _chi_. Direct it toward your sword hand."_

As Link listened, he wondered how he would even be able to manipulate his own inner energy. Even as he wondered, however, he felt the power within shift itself, and motes of spiritual force began to twist and flow through his body, a portion of himself moving at his will. He focused his mind on that inner energy, and willed it to gather at his left arm, and to his amazement the chi did so, flowing and surging around his sword's handle.

_"Now, direct it out, and sheathe your blade in your own spirit."_

The chi answered to his will, and he could feel it pouring out. In his hand, his blade began to throb, and Link cracked his eyes open, and was amazed to see the Kokiri Sword wreathed in swirling blue energy, the air around him dimming as if being sucked out by the chi that enveloped his sword. He pushed, directing more power into that blade, and the light shifted from blue to a blazing reddish-gold. The weapon continued to shake in his hand, almost falling out of his grip as he poured more power into it.

_"Now, strike!"_

The sword flashed forward, and the light _exploded_, rippling forth into a wave of blazing spiritual energy. The grass was ripped asunder, and for a dozen feet in front of the boy the field was flattened. Scorched blades of grass drifted down to the surface, surrounding the dumbfounded Kokiri, amazed by the display of power he had just unleashed. Link looked up toward his guardian, to find her drifting down toward the top of his head, and finally settling into the brim of his cap.

"I'm getting sleepy again," she yawned. "Don't go cutting the whole field down with that trick, okay?" Link looked down at his sword, and his eyes flicked up to the brim of his hat as he felt Navi tromping around inside his headgear, before settling down. Finally, the Kokiri let out a laugh of accomplishment, and clenched his hands tightly. He hurried back to his little camp and started getting his gear together, even more excited to continue his journey with the new lesson he had learned.

The Kokiri readied his shield, bombs, and supplied, and as he started off across the field in a light jog, his eyes flicked back up toward the sky and to his resting companion.

"Thank you, Navi," he said as he plunged through the grass and continued his journey.

* * *

-

* * *

I apologize for the relatively short length of this chapter. I usually write much longer chapters, but this one was not that heavy on real material to work with. It also took me an inordinately lonr period of time to write this chapter, considering how short it is; I had some difficulty getting myself motivated to properly write it, and I held off until I had a really good idea as to how I wanted to do this chapter. Since it was mostly focused on Lon Lon Ranch, this chapter was almost (I hate this word) _filler_. I knew I wanted to have Link meet Epona and see the ranch (which will become more important later on) and meet Malon and Talon again, but _how_ that part was supposed to work out was a challenge for me. 

Another important part of this chapter was . . . well, you saw it in the form of Navi and the Great Fairy. I will say that Link will be getting access to more magic; right now, I plan on integrating _all_ the spells and magical weapons and gear into this story, though some may well get cut for plot's sake. Other than that, there isn't much to say about this chapter . . . .

Be forwarned that the next chapter will probably be big, as I intend to cover the whole of the Zora's Domain and the Jabu-Jabu adventure in one long chapter. Jabu-Jabu may well get the same cutbacks that the Deku Tree dungeon suffered, as there's only so much you can do with that part in a narrative sense. Ah, well.

The _good_ news is that we're only a couple of chapters away from the story _really_ picking up. Once Link gets older . . . well, its going to be one hell of a ride then, heh. :D Trust me when I say I have got some _ideas_.

I opted to reupload this chapter after a few days of not getting any reviews, which has never happened before - you guys are always quick to drop reviews for me when I update. I suspect that there was a glitch or something that resulted in all the reviews getting eaten or deleted or something. If you tried to submit a review and it didn't appear, try again.

Until next chapter . . . .


	10. Chapter IX: Belly of the Beast

_**Chapter XIX: Belly of the Beast**_

"Okay, so we just got inhaled by a giant Zora fish god and are walking around inside its belly looking for their Princess."

Link looked around the slimy, glowing pink and red interior of Lord Jabu-Jabu, the revered water spirit of the Zora, Navi drifting beside him. The gut of the vast spirit seemed like nothing short of an organic cavern, with walls and floor of writhing pink flesh. This was certainly one of the _last_ places he had been expecting to explore on his journey.

"I think that sums it up," Navi replied. Link grunted, and started walking down the fleshy corridor that was the fish deity's stomach.

"Guess there's a first time for everything," he muttered, sword in hand.

* * *

Two hours earlier, the cool and clear waters of Zora's River had been flowing furiously downstream, twisting through a deep canyon before feeding out into the myriad rivers and streams of Hyrule. Beside this river, his brown boots lying on the grass beside him, was Link, his bare feet resting in the cool water. He leaned back, relaxing, and Navi was lying in the grass beside him while he took his break. Saving the world took quite a bit of legwork, he had come to realize, and he decided to stop and enjoy the beauty of the river while he could. 

"The Zoras live around here, right?" he asked as he looked up at the blue sky overhead.

"They're aquatic, so they live anywhere where there's deep water," Navi replied, nestled in the grass beside him, her azure glow filtering through the green blades. "But Zora's Domain is their capital."

"And that's up this way," Link said, peering upstream, at the vast, twisting river. In the far distance, he could hear the echo of a deep roar, and Link had seen enough flowing creeks and streams in the woods to recognize the sound of a waterfall, even when multiplied over many times.

"Do you think they'll be as friendly as the Gorons?" the Kokiri asked, and Navi mulled over that for a moment.

"Zora are an odd bunch, from what the Great Deku Tree told me," the fairy replied, poking her head above the grass. "The Gorons, well, they're bred from the stones and the hills, in a way, so being like they are is natural for them. Zora are a lot more like Kokiri, or Hylians, from what I've seen, a lot more individual."

"Wait and see then, huh?" Link asked, and yawned. "Hopefully the first ones we run into are going to be nice guys at least." His blue eyes traced the sky for a few more moments, and he started to doze off, feeling the comfortable, cooling wash of the river caressing his feet as he flopped back on the grass. He'd been walking all day, and this relaxing pause during the middle of the hot day was tempting him to take a midday nap.

His eyes closed, and then snapped open as he sensed a shadow pass overhead. The rustle of broad wings flapping in the air touched his ears, and the Kokiri sat up, to see a huge, familiar brown form settling into the branches of a tree along the river bank. The owl's large eyes peered over Link as he rose, pushing himself up on his elbows.

"Ah, Link," said Kaepora Gaebora, twisting his head around as if to get a better look at the Kokiri.

"From what I can tell, you've come a long way since we last spoke." As Kaepora's words touched him, Link paused, and realized that just a week and a half ago he'd been cautiously venturing out into Hyrule's grasslands, terrified and lost.

"I guess I have," he replied, chuckling, and the owl bobbed his head.

"You've improved and grown stronger in the last few days," he remarked. "Some Hylians go years without learning and seeing what you've accomplished."

"Well, I've been busy," he said with a shrug, and Kaepora's head bobbed again.

"I've noticed that you've gained some unusual new abilities since we last spoke," the owl said, and his huge eyes turned toward the Kokiri Sword.

"Yeah, Navi showed me how to use magic!" Links aid, his excitement returning as he remembered the grass falling to his own life force as it had burst from his blade.

"Indeed," the owl said. "But, you must keep in mind that magic, like all other skills, may atrophy over time. Do not neglect it, nor neglect your martial skills either. What has been granted to you is a powerful tool, but a limited one. Do not abuse or become too reliant on that power; your greatest strengths will always come from your mind and your body, not from the arcane. Many wizards forget this." Link's dutiful nod confirmed that he understood what Kaepora was saying.

"Well, now that that is settled," he hooted, and turned his head upstream. "I understand that you are now heading for another strange and new place, aren't you?"

"Zora's Domain," Link said, and the owl hooted again.

"The source of the rivers that flow throughout Hyrule," the owl said thoughtfully. "You should be wary, Link, for the darkness that you struggle against has a long reach, and it seeks the Spiritual Stones relentlessly."

"Are the Zoras in trouble?" the Kokiri asked, scrambling to his feet, and Kaepora hooted again.

"The dark magic of the sorcerer clouds this land, at the very source of Hyrule's water source. Go there and discover it for yourself, young Link. I will let you view it with your own eyes." With those cryptic words, the owl spread his wings and took to the air again, flying above Link and back downstream.

The Kokiri waited only a moment before tugging his boots back on, gathering his gear, and hurrying up the river, the owl's words driving him upstream; if Ganondorf had caused any mischief among the Zora like he had to the Gorons, Link intended to do what he could to counter it. He moved so swiftly and so intently that he didn't notice a sleek form sliding through the river a discreet distance behind, tailing him as he moved up the river.

* * *

Three more hours passed, and the sun had already passed its apex as Link ran upstream. He stopped briefly for another break by the river's edge, and the distant roar of the waterfall was growing louder; he suspected he was only a few miles from the waterfall itself. As soon as he had finished pausing to eat some berries and refill his waterskin, Link rose and started back up the length of the river, Navi following. 

The shallow, twisting canyon that was the upper length of Zora's River steadily grew smaller and tighter, and the terrain got rougher; Link found himself scrambling over rocks and the roots of trees that loomed overhead as he advanced along the river. He wondered how hospitable the water folk would be if the approach to their city was so difficult for legged land dwellers.

Twenty more minutes of negotiating the difficult, twisting terrain, and Link squeezed along through the canyon, walking along a ledge overlooking the river rushing past below, now traveling swiftly at the heart of the waters' source. The roar of the waterfall was deep and powerful now. He pressed on, and emerged into a large, open valley with a tremendous waterfall directly ahead, spilling from high above him into a deep pool. Link skirted around the edge of the swirling pool, amazed by the size and power of the waterfall, seeming to fall from heights far above; the thunder of its flow into the pool filled his ears.

He barely heard Navi when she shouted something, and he glance dup, to see something moving in the water near by. He started, grabbing his slingshot, when the figure emerged from the pool, large black eyes watching him curiously. The Kokiri blinked, not sure what he was seeing, until Navi muttered something in his ear.

"A Zora," she said. The pale, blue-white creature's face was human-like but narrow and elongated, with what looked like an extended, muscular fish tail stretching back from the rear of its head. Even as the Kokiri was taking the creature's appearance in, the Zora climbed out of the water, and he could see that it had a largely humanoid shape to its body, taller and more slender than most Hylians and towering over the tiny Kokiri. Elongated fins emerged from the backs of its arm and legs, patterned with darker blue coloring and scales.

"Greetings," the Zora said, its voice light and musical, and it gestured toward the waterfall. "Welcome to Zora's Domain." The fish-person's mouth turned in a smile as it spoke, barely audible over the roar of the waterfall.

"Uh, hi," Link replied a moment later, sheepishly putting away his tiny slingshot. "You surprised me." He had to shout, as he could barely hear his own words, but the Zora seemed to hear him perfectly fine.

"I saw you coming up the river, and I wasn't sure if you were coming up toward Zora's Domain or not," the Zora added, stepping closer so Link could hear the words more clearly. "I'm surprised you took such a difficult route so easily. Not very many Hylians come to visit our capital."

"I'm a Kokiri, actually," Link said, and the Zora frowned in surprise, before nodding.

"Forest folk are very rare in these parts," it said. "Ordinarily, we'd be a little bit more hospitable, but right now we're in a bit of a panic."

"What's wrong?" Link asked, to which the Zora shook his head.

"Our Princess has gone missing, _again,_ and our guardian deity, Lord Jabu-Jabu, has gone sick. All of it after that Gerudo came visiting, though I'm not sure how he got here, as he didn't take the river passage . . . ."

"Ganondorf," Link muttered, his words lost under the roar of the waterfall. He glanced back up to the Zora.

"Can I go inside?" he asked, not sure what he could do to help, but knowing that if Ganondorf was behind these problems, he wouldn't stop until he had foiled the sorcerer's plots.

"The Domain is closed to visitors right now until we sort this mess out," the Zora apologized. "We don't want any more interference than we can afford, and we can only trust agents of the Royal Family of Hyrule right now."

"I'm on a mission from Princess Zelda, actually," Link said, and the Zora's black eyes widened.

"If you are, then they've no doubt given you special credentials to prove that," the Zora replied. "Right now, our King has placed a spell upon the waterfall so that it will only open if you show them."

_Easy enough_, Link thought, as he took out his ocarina, and glanced around.

"Any place specific where I need to stand?" he asked, and the Zora scoffed.

"This isn't a game," it said. "Just show your proof. Who would require you to stand in a specific spot to play a song, anyway?" Link chuckled and raised the ocarina to his lips. Air flowed down the mouthpiece and out the holes in the wood as his fingers moved over the instrument. The familiar, soothing melody of Zelda's lullaby flowed through the air, seeming to cut through the roar of the fog like a blade through cloth. The Zora closed its eyes as it listened to the pleasant, peaceful song, and as Link finished, he thought the roar of the waterfall diminish.

"Excellent," the Zora said, nodding as the song ended. They both looked to the waterfall, to find it had dissipated, and beyond was a passage leading into the rock wall behind it. "I had forgotten the beauty o that song. You should hurry, before the spell ends and the water resumes its flow."

Link nodded, thanking the Zora for its help, and then hurried toward the waterfall. Mist still filled the air as he circled around behind the once-intense flow and stepped into the passage beyond. It was only a few short meters before Link emerged from the passage, a wave of pleasantly cool air and the quiet lapping of water greeting him as he stepped into the grotto beyond.

It was a vast, open chamber or gray stone, and Link stood upon a ledge overlooking an immensely deep pool. Below, he could see multitudes of pale, blue-white forms moving about in the clear waters or lounging on rocky ledges along the water's edge. From his vantage point, Link could see deep into the grotto's water, and saw what he suspected were the underwater homes of the Zora, a village built within the clefts and tunnels beneath the water's surface. Black eyes peered up at the newcomer as he walked along the ledge, looking around in amazement, wondering what it was like to live underneath the water's surface.

"Welcome!" called a voice ahead, and Link looked up, to see a pair of Zoras walking toward him, clad in what looked like loose, light scale suits of armor, an carrying curving spears that looked to have been fashioned out of the bones of sea creatures. "We weren't expecting any visitors from outside the enclave today, so this is a pleasant surprise."

"We heard the sound of the waterfall receding," the other said. "Since our King has barred access to non-Zora outside of the Royal Family, does that mean that you're one of their messengers?"

"That's right," Link replied, and the two Zoras nodded.

"I apologize for the disappointment, but the King cannot speak with any royal agents right now," the second Zora said. "He is . . . Rather inconsolable since Princess Ruto vanished this morning."

"What happened?" Link asked, and the two soldiers shrugged.

"She was last seen feeding Lord Jabu-Jabu, which is her responsibility," the first soldier replied. "Unfortunately, she hasn't been seen since, and we're theorizing that the Gerudo sorcerer had a hand in it."

"Ganondorf," Link spat, and the second soldier nodded.

"He requested that we turn over the Zora's Sapphire to him, and we refused to do so," it explained. "And now, Lord Jabu-Jabu is sick, and Ruto has disappeared. We're still just trying to sort everything out now."

"Actually, the Zora's Sapphire is why I was sent here," Link remarked. "Princess Zelda asked me to recover the Spiritual Stones for her." The Zoras paused, rubbing their chins, and the first soldier shook his head sadly.

"We cannot help you with that problem, unfortunately," he apologized. "While we can certainly trust your credentials as an agent of the Royal Family, Princess Ruto is the keeper of the Sapphire as well as Lord Jabu-Jabu's caretaker. This is why we fear for her safety, with the sorcerer's demands and the Lord's illness."

"Can I help search for her?" Link asked, and the two Zoras nodded immediately.

"Any help would be appreciated," the second soldier said. "Please, come." They led Link up along the path, through tunnels that ran with rivulets of water and past passages of flowing springs and tiny waterfalls. A mist filled the air, cool and refreshing, reminding Link of the fairy springs of the Kokiri Forest, but everywhere within this grotto. He spotted other Zoras moving around in the drier (relatively speaking) areas of the caves, and among them were oddly shaped Zora, taking on the shapes of other aquatic creatures, ranging from tall, sinewy eel-like Zora to squat, bulbous beings who seemed like fat puffer fish instead of the lithe forms of their fellows. They all seemed strange and alien to Link, who knew relatively little about fish beyond the creatures that dwelled in the lakes and creeks of his homeland.

After several minutes of winding their way up the stairways and passages, the soldiers led Link into an open room with a low pool of water that rose up to ankle level, fed by a slow, wide waterfall that flowed around a huge, fat Zora, sitting at the far end of the room atop a high ledge, beyond which was a tunnel that led off into daylight. The immense Zora's eyes were low, and he was rubbing his hands together, distraught. Several retainers were talking to the great creature, trying to comfort him or talking among themselves; Link assumed this was the throne room and the huge Zora was the king.

"My liege," spoke one of the soldiers. "We have brought a messenger sent from Princess Zelda."

"A messenger?" the king asked, and he looked up for a moment, and nodded half-heartedly. "What does Princess Zelda need of us?"

"She asked me to bring back the Spiritual Stone of Water," Link said. "I heard that Princess Ruto has it, but she's gone missing." The king nodded, seeming to quickly revert back to his former distress.

"My daughter, she has . . . We cannot find her," he said. "I am sorry, right now I'm just . . . I feel very tired."

"He has offered to help us search for the princess," one of the soldiers spoke, and the King looked back up, his eyes brightening slightly.

"I'm not certain how much help you may be, but we welcome any assistance," the king said graciously. "Guards, please permit the royal agent to the shrine if he should wish to search there."

"Of course, my liege," the first soldier spoke. He gestured past the ledge. "Please, follow us. We will take you to the shrine of Lord Jabu-Jabu."

The passageway beyond led back out into the open air, with ankle dee water flowing out from it. Link soon realized that the water came from a lake right outside the passageway beyond, and as he stepped back out into the sunlight, he heard a deep breathing sound coming from his right. When the Kokiri looked up in that direction, he saw a smalls tone shrine that was shaped like a ship dock, built next to the rock tunnel, and resting at the end of the shrine was what could only be Lord Jabu Jabu.

The creature was an immense fish, a hundred times Link's size, with gray skin and large, glazed-over gray eyes. The creature wasn't moving, beyond slight motions of the large fins on either side of its body to keep it near the dock. As Link steppe dout into the open, the eyes seemed to focus on him for a minute, before moving away.

"Is he sick?" Link asked, and the Zora soldiers nodded.

"We know not the cause of his illness, but it is only very recent." Link nodded as he stepped up onto the shrine and peered around the rest of the wide mountain lake.

The great lake that Lord Jabu-Jabu inhabited was wide and its waters were clear and pure, clearer than nearly anything he'd seen thus far. As Link peered around the lake, he was somewhat confused, for he did not see any other creeks or streams flowing into and feeding the deep lake, and while he had lived in the forest all his life he knew a little about geography.

"Where is all the water coming from?" the Kokiri asked as he walked toward Jabu-Jabu, and one of the Zora soldiers rubbed his chin, surprised.

"Most outsiders rarely ask that question," the soldier remarked, and the other chuckled.

"The shrine and home of our great Lord is _the_ source of Zora's River," he replied. "It does not draw from underground springs or mountain ice or rainfall. Our Lord and the magic of this place makes it so."

"Wow," Link muttered, nodding in amazement. It was subtle and not readily apparent, but the fact that the water literally sprang from _this_ lake told him of how magical this place really was. There was no doubt in Link's mind that Jabu-Jabu, for all his stillness and lethargy, was probably as powerful in his domain as the Great Deku Tree had been in his. The immense fish god was now viewed in a new light by the Kokiri, and he felt an odd sense of kinship with the Zora, who he suspected had a similar relationship to Jabu-Jabu that the Kokiri had to their spiritual father.

He shook off the reverence a moment later, and walked across the shrine toward the Lord, who remained motionless except for his gently splashing tail. The huge eyes seemed to glance at the Kokiri, but then looked away, dismissively, and resumed being distant and unfocused.

"If we're going to figure out what happened to the Princess, we should follow her disappearance one step at a time," Navi suggested, and Link nodded.

"You guys said Princess Ruto vanished while feeding Lord Jabu-Jabu?" the Kokiri asked, and they nodded. The fish god's eyes, Link noticed, glanced back down at him as he mentioned the prospect of food.

"It is mostly an act of appeasement and symbolism," one of the troops replied. "I'm sure Lord Jabu-Jabu would tell you this himself if he wasn't feeling so ill." Behind link, there was a low rumble, though whether it was the deity acknowledging the Zora or simple being hungry was uncertain.

"Being a guardian spirit, he doesn't need fish, and can eat all the ones he wants on his own," the other Zora said. "But we offer him fish as a way of thanking him for his protection and the pure waters he gives us."

"Well, that's how she disappeared, so we should start there," Link said, and the two Zora nodded. One of the soldiers turned and stepped off the side of the shrine, disappearing into the water. Link watched with fascination as the fish person jetted across the lagoon, wheeling and turning through the water like a bird in the air, his fins flowing and pumping as he cut through the clear lagoon. Within moments he returned, climbing up onto the platform with water sloughing off his smooth skin and armor. A large, wriggling fish was held in his hand.

"Now, when you offer this fish to the Lord, you hold it out for him to see and then place it on the stone, and then back away. The Lord will draw it inside on his own, and he is rather . . . _forceful._"

"Let me try it," Link volunteered with a smile and outstretched hand.

* * *

In retrospect, he shouldn't have been so eager to go waving a squirming fish in front a fish deity when he'd been warned seconds before that said guardian spirit was _very_ forceful in eating his meals. 

"I want to say I'm surprised at how big Lord Jabu Jabu's guts are, but I'm not," he remarked as he walked down what he guessed was the deity's throat. Strange bubble-like shapes drifted through the cavernous chamber, and Link was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that he was wandering around _inside the belly of a guardian deity._ But even if it was hard to reconcile the _size_ of the fish-god's innards, he wasn't terribly surprised that it _was_ huge; after all, spirits were strange creatures, and he was on a pretty strange adventure.

"If Lord Jabu-Jabu did the same thing to the Princess that he did to us, then that probably means she's inside his belly," Navi explained, and Link nodded.

"It would explain why she vanished, but is she okay?" Link couldn't imagine being inside the guts of a fish deity was very healthy, but then again, he wasn't much of an authority on walking around inside guardian spirits' innards.

"Let's hurry up and see if we can find her," Navi said, and Link nodded, walking down the "passage" with his blade in hand. He wasn't sure why he had his sword out, but Link wasn't taking any chances. Both of the places that Ganondorf had cursed before had been infested by monsters, and Link didn't think even the belly of Lord Jabu-Jabu was safe from the sorcerer's magic.

The Kokiri and his partner continued moving down the deity's throat, the pink, fleshy walls quivering slowly as he advanced. The boy was careful to keep his hand steady and his grip tight, as he didn't want to accidentally cut or injure Jabu-Jabu.

The passageway narrowed, and then suddenly opened, and Link and Navi found themselves stepping out into a wide "chamber" of heaving pink walls and a somewhat unstable "floor." The Kokiri glanced around the room, and noted several large, glowing blue-white creatures hovering at various points in the room, wandering aimlessly through the air. He had heard of "jellyfish" before, but had never seen them, but these things loosely matched the description, with large bulbous upper bodies and trailing feelers beneath them, small arcs of white electricity jumping between them.

"You there!" Link started in shock as he heard a girl's voice, speaking in the same high-pitched, musical tone of the Zora. He turned in the direction of the voice, to see what he guessed to be a young Zora female; she was slightly shorter than Link himself, and unlike the tall, graceful creatures he had encountered earlier, she seemed smaller and more stocky, with only small stubs for fins growing out of her arms and no tail sprouting from the back of her head. She looked over Link, and what he guessed was a surprised scowl appeared on her face.

"Who are you?" she demanded, and the Kokiri was taken aback by her tone, her words both demanding and accusing.

"I'm Link," he replied bluntly, matching her tone. "You're Princess Ruto, right?" The Zora girl blinked, and nodded.

"How did you know my name?"

"No one else has been disappearing inside fish gods' bellies lately," Link replied. "Your people are worried about you, especially your father."

"I don't _care!"_ she suddenly snapped, indignant, and the Zora princess looked away. "I have things to take care of in here anyway." Link was about to protest her refusal to listen when Navi's shout caught his attention.

"behind you, Link!"

He whirled, raising his shield, and saw one of the glittering blue jellyfish-like creatures had floated in close behind him. His shield met the creature's tentacles, which struck remarkably hard for such a small monster, and he saw the spark of static lightning arcing off of it. The Kokiri Sword snapped across, an instinctive counter to the monster's attack.

Later, Link decided, following instinct wasn't _always _wise.

He let out a scream of agony as lightning coursed down his sword, blasting his body. His muscles jerked and spasmed, and the Kokiri was thrown off his feet and sent rolling across the fleshy floor, his skin smoking and pain stretching across his entire body. He had no idea what had just happened, but as he scrambled to his feet, Link resolved to not hit those jellyfish creatures with his sword again.

The monster continued closing in, focusing on Link. Navi danced in front of it, trying to distract it, but the monster didn't even seem to notice her, instead drifting at the Kokiri. Link considered grabbing his slingshot, until he remembered the lesson Navi had taught him yesterday.

"Ruto, get back!" he called as he focused on himself, calling up his inner reserved as he slowly backed away from the jellyfish, letting it close in while he charged his blade with his spirit.

"That's _Princess-_"

"Get back!" Link shouted again as blue light flowed down his blade. The Zora princess was many things, but she wasn't stupid, and she realized that whatever Link was about to do wasn't likely healthy. She scrambled away as the blue light's tinge became a darker red, the energy intensifying as the jellyfish drew nearer.

With a shout of fury, the Kokiri snapped his sword forward, and the shockwave of spiraling _chi_ burst forward, slamming into the jellyfish and launching it across the room. It slammed into one of the stomach walls and hit the floor, before shakily rising, battered but still alive. Link exhaled, exhaustion beginning to creep in as he expended so much energy on that attack.

A hand touched his shoulder, and he jerked in surprise, only to realize as he spun that it was the Princess. As he faced her, the Zora pointed toward the other side of the room, and one of the "passages" that led out of this chamber.

"This way," she hissed, and not questioning her logic, Link followed after her. Ruto did not run, but she walked at a brisk pace, and Link saw that this was more than enough to keep them away from the jellyfish creatures; they seemed lethargic and slow, more guards that anything else. Though several more started floating toward the trio, none of them got close before they were outside of the stomach chamber and standing in a narrow, dark-colored passageway beyond.

"Where are we going?" Link asked, and Ruto huffed.

"Away from somewhere that will get you killed," she replied. "Its obvious you can't hurt those things with your sword, so we need to improvise if we're going to handle this mess."

"Mess?" Link said. "Hold on a second, your Highness, I'm here to find you and get you out of here first."

"Then you'll help me," Ruto replied firmly. "I'm not leaving until I find the Zora's sapphire."

"I thought you had the Sapphire," Links aid, surprised, to which Ruto frowned.

"I _had_ it," she replied, shaking her head. "Lord Jabu-Jabu . . . ." She paused, and sighed. "look, I've been going in and out of Lord Jabu-Jabu's belly like this for a long time. He's rather eager when I feed him, so I tend to get sucked inside, probably like you did, but he always lets me out once he figures out what he did. But he was sick today, so I didn't expect him to inhale me so aggressively, and I lost the sapphire when I fell inside." She frowned, and gestured down the passage.

"If you drop something inside Jabu-Jabu's belly, it could end up anywhere inside him. I've been looking around for it, but I can't get very far with all these weird jellyfish monsters everywhere. They've never been in here before."

"So, how do we get past them?" Link asked, remembering the tone of her voice earlier. The Princess had to know of some other plan they could use the bypass these creatures.

"This way," she muttered, and gestured down the passage again. "A few weeks ago I found something that Jabu-Jabu had swallowed. It looked like a chest that someone had dumped in the lake decades ago. I don't know how it ended up in his belly." They walked down the 'corridor", which weaved and turned and branched off in several places. Ruto led him unerringly, apparently quite well-versed in navigating the fish-god's guts. Within minutes she had brought him down a side passage, which opened into a larger chamber. In the corner was something that looked distinctly wooden and dark, made of rotten planks and metal strips: an old chest. She led Link straight toward it.

"Link," Navi hissed as Ruto opened the chest. "We're not alone." He looked over his shoulder, and spotted a pair of the blue jellyfish hovering near the entrance to the chamber, drifting down over the entrance and blocking the way out.

"Ruto, I hope your-"

"Princess Ruto," she snapped.

"O Holy Shiny Divine Zora Princess of All Hyrule, I hope this thing works, because we've got company." Ruto looked up, sour expression on her face at Link's mocking string of titles, and she turned, holding something in her hand. Link glanced at it, confused at the item: it was a narrow, bent strip of carved wood with sharpened edges and a large red gem set in the center, where the wood was crooked.

"A boomerang?" Link muttered, and Ruto tossed it toward him. He caught the weapon, not sure what this was doing here or what to do with it. Some Kokiri had used boomerangs as hunting tools and toys, but Link had never had any real aptitude for them, preferring the slingshot. However, s he looked at the device, he felt something odd, a tingle of energy in the fingers that gripped the weapon, and an urge to turn and fling the weapon at the nearest foe.

He didn't argue with the urge, flipping the boomerang around to hold it by the tip, and raising it over his shoulder, as he had learned a long time ago; even though he wasn't very good with boomerangs, he still knew how to toss them. Link focused on the nearest jellyfish, adjusted his aim slightly, and pumped his arm, the wooden wedge flying out in a spinning arc. Link winced as he let loose, seeing the clumsy throw for what it was.

To his surprise, the weapon seemed to home right in on the monster, wheeling around of its own accord and slamming into the jellyfish. Even more surprising, it cut right through the monster, slicing it in half and arcing back toward Link. The Kokiri barely retained the presence of mind to catch the boomerang as it dropped back toward him, even as the jellyfish burned with black flames and faded away into ash.

That was all Link needed to confirm that Ganondorf's hand was in the infestation of Jabu-Jabu's innards, and he raised the enchanted boomerang again, sighting his other foe. His arm pumped again, and the monster was sliced apart as the weapon hit its target unerringly.

"Okay, that was nice," Link whispered as he caught the boomerang, which seemed to guide itself back to his hand. He looked a the strange weapon with new respect, and then back to Ruto, who seemed rather impressed by his quick disposal of the electrical monsters.

"Okay, let's find this Sapphire and get out of here," he said, and she nodded.

"I'll take you to the places I wasn't able to reach by myself," she stated, and stepped past him. The Kokiri followed, boomerang in hand.

"Interesting," Navi's voice came a few moments later as they worked their way up the passage. She hovered near Link's left hand, looking over the new weapon in his arsenal.

"What?" he asked, glancing down at her.

"This thing is definitely magical," she remarked. "Powerful wind-based enchantments have been placed on it." He looked over the wooden boomerang, and nodded.

"Wonder how it got inside the lake," he mused, and then jerked his head back up at a cry from the princess. Ruto was scrambling backward from a trio of the blue jellyfish that were drifting down the passage toward her. The boomerang arced over her head and took one of them apart before she's even managed to get back to where Link stood, and he calmly dispatched the others with two more throws, their bodies burning away. The ashes seemed to be consumed by Jabu-Jabu's innards, the fish god letting no taint remain inside his body.

"Maybe you should stay behind me," Link suggested, edging in front of the princess, who let out an indignant "hmph" but agreed.

The Kokiri put up with her pointing him around as they explored the side passages, and kept his new weapon at the ready. Several of the sparking jellyfish emerged to menace the group, but between Navi's sharp eyes and Link's swift throwing arm, they dispatched the creatures with relative ease. The magical boomerang made the search much easier, but after twenty minute Ruto confirmed that they had scoured almost all the passages, with nothing to show for it. As they turned down another fleshy corridor, the princess insisted on taking the lead again.

"It has to be down this way," she said, her voice certain, and started moving up the passage, Link and Navi chasing behind her. The fairy suddenly dropped close to his ear.

"Something is wrong," she whispered. "I can fell . . . Darkness. Like the kind we felt with Gohma's lair under the Deku Tree." To this, the Kokiri's eyes widened, and he sped up, grabbing the princess by the shoulder.

"I really think you should stay back," he hissed, and she shot him a venomous look, which quickly faded when she saw the expression on his face. Where there had been a wariness and confusion - in no small part due to his surroundings - there was now a grim certainty. The knuckles clenching his boomerang were white, and he kept his eyes focused down the corridor. To the Zora princess, it was almost _frightening_ to see the shift in the boy.

Link stepped out ahead of her and strode forward, crouched and tensed. If Navi was right, if something of the same ilk as the Ghoma Queen lurked ahead, he would need to be ready.

The chamber beyond was large, but dark. However, as Link peered around the vast room, the largest he'd seen inside Jabu-Jabu's belly, he thought he saw flickers of gleaming blue-white light, but far larger than the small jellyfish he had seen before. Arcs of yellow electricity filled the room . . . And in the center of the chamber he caught sight of gleaming gold and blue, the shining light of a Spiritual Stone.

"That's it!" Ruto whispered into his ear, and he nodded, waving a hand for her to stay back a she advanced into the chamber. His blue eyes flicked round the room, and he could _sense_ the presence of another entity in this room, dark and evil and alien.

"Navi, what do you see?" he asked, and the fairy was silent for a moment.

"Dark power," she whispered. "The curse on Jabu-Jabu is here, I can feel it." Link opened his mouth to ask for more information, but suddenly he didn't need to.

The arcs of yellow electricity intensified, and the glow from the Spiritual Stone vanished, seeming to be snuffed out by an outside force, and then Link finally saw what lay at the heart of the room. He could see through the intense blue glow of immense jellyfish, bigger than even the Kokiri, spinning around a huge shape of immense pink and brown flesh, diseased and rotten yet mobile and filled with a hideously dark and evil life. The monstrosity was tall, stretching from the floor of the chamber to its high ceiling, a cylindrical abomination that pulsed and writhed where it towered. A scent struck him, the foul stench of the sorcery that was at work in this room, an immense parasitic monster latched onto the innards of the fish god, feeding upon it just as Gohma had fed upon the Great Deku Tree.

Another parasite, feeding on another benevolent spirit that did nothing but protect this land from the vile machinations of Ganondorf. Link's eyes narrowed, and his teeth clenched as raw anger filled him, a wrathful and vengeful fury as he realized he truly was facing a beast of the same ilk as the monster that had killed his spiritual father.

"Ruto!" he shouted as the jellyfish began to spin around the central monstrosity. "Stay back!" He turned toward the monster, his anger only growing as he stared at it. He would not let Jabu-Jabu suffer the same fate that the Great Deku Tree had suffered.

As the illumination grew, he could see it more and more clearly - and he saw the tentacles at the top of the beats, a trio of them anchoring it t the ceiling, and three more tipped with sparking appendages, glowing with static electricity. The abomination seemed to become aware of his presence, and the tentacles turned toward him, bringing their sparking tips to bear on the Kokiri.

He knew enough about Ganondorf's abominations by now to not be where something was pointing, and Link dove aside. An instant later a high-pitched roar filled his ears, and two lightning bolts stabbed down at where he had stood.

Link ran, his little legs pumping as the monster turned its electrical appendages and fired another barrage. Arcs of searing electricity slammed down around Link, but the agile Kokiri ducked and spun beneath them, reversing his direction as he tried to figure out how to fight this cursed creature. The Kokiri couldn't get close, due to the huge jellyfish that seemed to hover around the monster like living armor. He scanned the parasite, and as he did so, Navi's azure glow suddenly appeared next to him.

"That thing is drawing energy from Jabu-Jabu through those things in the ceiling," she shouted over the bursts of lighting that rained down around Link. Ignoring the incongruity of there even being a ceiling inside a fish deity's innards, Link saw what she was talking about, and it took him only half a second to figure out how he was going to hit them. He new boomerang clenched tightly, he dove under another storm of lightning bolts and whirled, raising the weapon. He didn't have time to line up a good shot, and instead let fly at one of the anchors descending from the ceiling as he ran.

The wooden blade swept through the air, tumbling and spinning, and as Link watched, it sheared straight through the disgusting fleshy appendage, and he felt the room shudder as the parasite seemed to roar in fury and agony. The boomerang swung back toward Link, and he raised his hand to catch it.

Then there was _pain,_ and the Kokiri fell backward with sparks of electricity shooting off his body, a scream still escaping from his lips as he rolled away. He started to stand back up numbly, instinctively knowing that he had to get _away_, and he leapt forward before the next blast of lightning could hit him head-on. Tendrils of yellow electricity leapt off the floor as Link jumped away, jolting him, but it was ignored as he ran forward, knowing he had to throw off the increasingly accurate lightning blasts. He looked up toward the monster's appendages, and sorted out another of the anchor points.

His left arm pumped, and he didn't bother tracking where the boomerang went, instead running as fast as he could, circling around the creature. The thunderstorm raged around the boy, threatening to engulf him, and then suddenly halted, another roar of agony from the parasite telling Link he'd hit his target. He looked up as he heard the enchanted boomerang closing in, _swishing_ through the air, and his hand snapped up and caught it with deft ease.

_Whatever spell they put on this thing, its doing its job really well._

Then Link didn't have time to think, as the monster had sighted him once again, all three of its lightning appendages turning to face him and charging up. He dug his heels into the fleshy floor, and a blast of lightning arced down in front of him, the edges of the electricity barely missing him. As he ducked, some part of him realized that if even one bolt hit him now he would probably be finished, but he dismissed the idea as a second blast cut over his dropping form. He shot up as the bolt passed, his legs pushing, and he flipped over a third blast that would have hit him in the stomach an instant earlier.

As he leapt, Link spotted the third anchor point connecting the monster to Jabu-Jabu, and he let fly while still airborne, the wooden wedge seeming to leap from his fingers and seek out the target with unerring precision.

As the Kokiri's boots hit the floor, he heard the monster thunder, the boomerang severing its last connection and spinning back toward his hands. Link's fingers closed around the handle as he saw the monster sag, its bursts of lightning letting up for a moment.

Golden arcs of lightning suddenly lanced out, striking each of the jellyfish armoring the abomination, and they began to spin around the parasite, a whirling storm of electricity. As Link watched, the monster seemed to be trying to uproot itself from the floor, and he knew he couldn't wait around; it was wounded, and now was the time to strike. The only question was . . . where?

Navi seemed on the verge of speaking when Link suddenly found the target for himself: beneath the wave of spinning jellyfish - which, he realized, were spinning around the core monster as a desperate defensive measure - he could see vulnerable flesh, and knew that was where he needed to strike. The only problem was how to get an opening, and Link quickly realized the easiest way to strike inside that vulnerable shield.

_Find an opening, _Link thought as he let fly with his boomerang, and in the back of his mind he finally realized _why_ Lord Jabu-Jabu had swallowed that treasure chest holding this magical weapon. The spinning wedge lanced out, whirling and diving, and suddenly slipped amongst the spiraling jellyfish-

-and the beast roared again, the sparks of lightning vanishing and a gap appearing in its armor. The Kokiri leapt forward, slipping between the jellyfish and stabbing down with his sword. He let his fury loose as he finally could bring the Kokiri sword to bear, his tiny arms pumping and stabbing, the sword cutting and biting into the monster's flesh. Green ichors burst forth, sickening fluids of corruption and evil, but he ignored them as he slashed into the abomination's hide, cutting a series of deep, oozing gashes.

He felt more than heard the lightning arcing out toward the jellyfish again, and Link leapt backward as the deadly golden light swarmed around the monsters, bringing them in close. He skirted around the edges of the defensive barrier, his magical boomerang ready to strike once more, probing for an opening like a jaguar watching its prey.

"Its too big for your sword to kill it, Link," Navi hissed in his ear, and he nodded, coming to that assessment as well. It would take a dozen attacks like that last one to seriously wound such a huge beast; he needed to hit it harder, to use something that dealt a lot more damage than his small forest blade. He would need something like . . . .

His hand touched his pouch, and he grinned, thanking Darunia as he raised his boomerang, spotting the gashes he'd cut moments before and homing in on them. They were close together, leaving a single large wound, deep and vulnerable. Link's arm pumped again, and the boomerang swooped through the air, directly toward his enemy. As with before, it weaved straight through the barrier of jellyfish and struck home, dazing the monster with its impact.

And then Link was _there_, catching the magical weapon and stuffing it into his belt, even as his right hand pulled out one of the small black spheres he'd acquired on Death Mountain.

The oozing wound wasn't big enough, but Link tore out his Kokiri Sword to fix that problem. It chopped and cut, ripping open a larger, bleeding wound, and he ignited the bomb. Link's hand thrust forward, stuffing the explosive deep inside the wound, and he leapt backward even as the abomination tried to recover.

The explosion was muffled by the layers of the beast's flesh, but the results were undeniable. As Link hit the floor and rolled away, jets of sickening green fluids burst from the injury as the bomb shredded the parasite's innards, and the jellyfish armor seemed to dissolve, the individual monsters flopping to the floor like puppets with their strings cut. As Link watched, the monster itself sagged to the floor, its body seeming to bloat and expand outward, green fluids leaking from dozens of ruptures across its body . . . and then it _exploded_.

Verdant ichors filled the air, and the Kokiri met them head on. Link looked down at himself, seeing his clothes covered with the sickening fluids and bits of rotten, ruined pink flesh, even as more material rained down around the room.

_"Gross."_ He shook his head, wondering if the stuff would come out; Kokiri clothes were designed to be rugged and easy to clean, but he doubted that anyone had expected they would be tromping around the innards of fish gods and killing exploding parasites formed of evil sorcery.

Behind him, he could hear footsteps, squishing through the remains of the monster, and looked back, to see Pirncess Ruto daintily stepping among the disgusting ruins of the monster. She paused, and bent down, grabbing something glittering and gold, and held it up for Link to see: the Zora's Sapphire.

"Finally," she whispered, and looked toward him, her expression shifting to one of uncertainty, before finally smiling.

"That was . . . That was amazing, Link," she admitted. He grunted, and looked down at himself again. Killing minions of Ganondorf seemed to be becoming routine for him, but this . . . though disgusting, it was satisfying.

Any further thoughts were halted as a sudden azure glow filled the chamber, and Link suddenly felt himself being pulled up and away by the same magic the Deku Tree had used-

-and then he was cold and wet, water lapping up around his knees. The glow vanished, and Link found himself standing on the edge of Lord Jabu-Jabu's lake, across from the shrine where the fish deity had been resting. To his surprise, Jabu-Jabu was no longer there, instead slowly turning away from the shrine and starting to swim away, the lethargy and sickness suddenly gone. This brought a smile to his face, and he heard pleasant laughter from behind. His head moved around, recognizing Ruto's voice, but before he could turn all the way around, he felt her hands plant themselves on his back, and he was pushed forward.

"You are nasty, Link," he heard her say before he splashed into the water. His arms pumped, and he rose back up to the surface, sputtering indignantly as he came back to the top. His arms spread outward, treading water with ease in spite of all of his gear, and he looked up in time to see Ruto her self jump into the water beside him. She rose to the surface, easily treading water by simply extending her arms to the sides.

"You looked pretty amazing back there," she said with a smile. "A lot more than I thought you would." She paused, and laughed. "All of our soldiers, and it turns out that the one who would help me the most is a little Kokiri kid."

"Thanks," Link offered, and she nodded as she floated.

"Since you saved me, the Sapphire, and Jabu-Jabu, I guess should pay you back," she added. "What do you want the most?"

"Well, I came here for the Zora's Sapphire, actually," he said, and Ruto's eyes widened for a moment, and then she laughed again.

"Really?" she asked, curious, and she held up the Spiritual Stone, a trio of gleaming sapphires set in a golden frame. She looked him over again, and the look in her eyes made Link uncomfortable for some reason.

"You know what _else_ the Zora's Sapphire is called, right?" she asked, and he nodded, thinking she meant that it was the Spiritual Stone of water. Her eyes lit up, and with her smile growing, she extended the hand with the Stone.

"If you want it," she said, "you can have it, though I think you're a _bit_ too young right now." Link blinked in confusion, not sure what she was talking about, but he pushed that confusion aside as he took the last Spiritual Stone in hand.

Princess Zelda's task was done, and now he had to return as quickly as he could, to help her safeguard the Triforce.

* * *

Link didn't stick around to be heaped and praised as he had with the Gorons; he wasn't sure if the Zoras were as enthusiastic with their celebrations as the mountain folk, and he didn't want to find out the hard way. Instead, he simply bid Princess Ruto and her father a farewell and hurried off, departing Zora's Domain as swiftly as he had come. 

After he departed, the immense King looked down at his daughter.

"So, you gave the Sapphire to him?" he asked, and she nodded, a wide smile on her face.

"What do you think of him?" she asked, and the King frowned, scratching his gills.

"He has a distinct lack of fins, and that pink skin is very unusual, and all that _hair_ . . . ." he shrugged.

"But, if he is as brave as you said he was, and I have no reason to doubt that," he added. "I think he will make a fine husband for you, human or not."

"That's why I gave him the Zora's Engagement Ring in the first place," Ruto added. "I can't _wait_ until we're old enough . . . ."

* * *

What passed within the halls of Zora's Domain did not proceed unnoticed, and as Princess Ruto had bestowed her greatest treasure on the unsuspecting Kokiri, red eyes had seen all that transpired. 

As the Keese sat on its master's shoulders, imparting what it had seen, the crimson-haired Gerudo smiled, laughing quietly, and clenched his fist, dark magic emanating from his hands as he set in motion the last steps of his plans.

"Bring them all here, little hero," he muttered into the night air, feeling the cool, life-bringing breeze on his skin. "I'll be waiting."

The wind carried Ganondorf's laughter away into the night, heralding nights that would be blacker than any imagined.

* * *

-

* * *

Okay, that took way too long to write. Jabu-Jabu is still one of my least favorite dungeons in Ocarina, both from a storyline perspective and because you hve to haul Ruto around through the whole dungeon. Naturally, it was a challenge for me to write Link running around in the guts of a giant fish god without it getting completely silly. It was also tough for me to get all the dialogue in this chapter done properly. Overall, this one was a huge challenge for me to write, and I spent a long time letting it sit while I stewed over how to properly do the chapter. I did cut out quite a bit of the Jabu-Jabu dungeon, but I tried to make up for it with the Barinade battle at the end, which was _very_ fun to write. 

Now, with that being said, now that we've gotten past the Dungeon I Hate Soooooo Much, this story is going to pick up, as we're only a short while away from things taking a massively dark twist, and Link's innocence vanishing as he goes from a little Kokiri kid to a completely ass-kicking adult. The next twenty or so chapters are going to _rock._ I am stoked for what's coming up next. :D

Chapter title came from the third Act of Gears of War, which is also my least favorite part of that game too. :P

Unil next chapter . . . .


	11. Chapter X: The Song of Time

_**Chapter X: The Song of Time**_

Four days.

The spies following the little Kokiri boy had trailed him for the four days it took him to make his way across the meadows and fields of Hyrule from Zora's Domain, and as he neared the castle town, mere hours away, they had returned to their master, bringing tidings of the child with the three Spiritual Stones.

At his balcony, Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo, smiled once more and clenched his fist. He took his sword in hand and strapped it to his back, hiding the immense blade beneath the shrouds of dark illusion magic, and stepped out of his allotted chambers. He had awaited this moment for over two weeks, eager and with bated breath.

It was time.

He strode down the darkened passageways leading into the depths of Hyrule Castle. In the shadows lurked his minions, lithe Gerudo thieves and spies who guided him safely past the guard patrols, so that none would know he was marching down to the labyrinths beneath the vast keep.

They had known of the hidden ways of Hyrule Castle for decades, Gerudo thieves having long since penetrated the secret passages beneath the castle, routes that allowed messengers and the royal family to escape in times of strife and danger. But now, those passages, intended for salvation and security, were being used for a darker purpose.

Two Hylian soldiers stood at one of the archways leading into the secret warrens, looking bored and tired. However, they easily spotted the Gerudo king, for he made no effort to disguise his approach.

"Ah, King Ganondorf," one of the soldiers said, straightening. "I apologize, but our King has ordered the castle basements to be off-limits to everyone without royal permission."

The king of the Gerudo nodded, and his lips curved upward. Ganondorf's smile suddenly put the soldier ill at ease, for it contained nothing that a smile should.

"You have not heard the news, I take it?" he asked the soldier, who frowned in confusion.

"What news?"

The immense Gerudo's right hand lanced forward, slapping over the soldier's windpipe and yanking him back and upward. With almost no visible effort, the black-clad figure lifted the man off his feet, armor and all. The second soldier let out a cry of shock and drew his sword only to face the open palm of the Gerudo, a palm that swirled with dark energy. A crack of light filled the passage, and the Hylian pitched backward, fire blasting through his armor and sending him sprawling, charred skin and molten metal where his chest had been.

"_I_ am now the King of Hyrule," Ganondorf snarled, his smile growing as he tightened his grip. The soldier felt his windpipe collapsing under the Gerudo's impossible strength, and a moment later his neck snapped. The sorcerer tossed the corpse aside, the man's armor rattling against the wall, and strode past the bodies.

His boots echoed in the darkened passages as he walked into the depths of Hyrule Castle. As he strode, dead, unlit torches sprung to life with dark flames, each sconce bursting with a gesture from the sorcerer. He continued down the passage, walking down a long, winding staircase, and halted before a vast gate. With a gesture, dark light struck the gate, and a dull, weary creaking sound filled the warrens. He watched, waiting, as the gate ascended, and as it finished rising, there was movement in the passageway beyond.

Shaggy, loping shapes with yellow eyes and canine jaws rushed forward, hissing and sniffing in anticipation of prey. Tall, slender forms, covered with green scales and wielding longswords strode forward, hissing with serpentine voices. Hulking, muscular beasts with long spears and pikes stomped up the corridor, and the bulky, bleached-white bodies of undead, skeletal warriors joined them, swords and shields in hand. Mixed among the throng were near-invisible, sinewy figures, feminine forms with scimitars in hand.

They entered the chamber in the multitudes, beasts, monsters, abominations, mercenaries, and thieves who had devoted themselves to their dark sorcerer king. He smiled as he saw them hurry up the passage, surrounding him in that wide chamber beneath the castle, and each and every one of them dropped to their knees, lowering their heads in fealty and respect.

"The time has come," Ganondorf said, drawing his long, broad-bladed greatsword and holding it up high. He looked upon his warriors, and though hundreds of them still coming up the tunnel, he knew they were a pittance of the true army at his beck and call.

"_Let Hyrule burn!"_

* * *

Hylian eyes turned up toward the sky, some people muttering in surprise and confusion as the skies seemed to darken overhead, black storm clouds sweeping in from the north. For the average citizen in the street, it was an unusually unexpected flash storm, but no cause for alarm. As lightning began to crack and thunder rumbled across the city, they hurried to their homes lest they be caught in the rain, while merchants continued to hawk their wares in the center of town. Hundreds of Hylians remained, continuing to bargain and argue and barter for goods, waving fistfuls of Rupees in the air, heedless of the dark skies and the rain falling. After all, bad weather was no reason to halt business. 

The more learned of Hyrule, and there were a number of these people, sages, minor wizards, priests of the Goddesses, and the like, sensed something was amiss with the storm that swept over their city. Those who were most knowledgeable about weather patterns were most concerned, for they had not anticipated such a sudden, unexpected storm to come out of nowhere. Few, however, possessed the necessary knowledge to determine the import of the dark storms; perhaps if they had convened and shared their observations, they would have realized the dark magic that flowed in this surprising burst of bad weather, but those with the proper knowledge were too scattered about the city and would never get the time needed to determine what was truly amiss, much less alert those who needed to know.

For a select few, however, the storm was far more than an inconvenience or an oddity. For one Hylian in particular, the magic filling the air was foreboding, dangerous . . . and all too familiar.

"Princess," called Impa, as the Shiekah stepped into Princess Zelda's lavish, well-appointed chambers. She peered around, and then saw the girl standing at her window, looking out into the ashen sky as rain fell and lightning flashed across the sky.

"I'm not dreaming," the Shiekah heard the girl whisper as she looked up at the sky.

"Princess?" Impa asked as she started across the chamber. Zelda pulled her gaze away from the sky, but her eyes were distant, and Impa heard a knowing tremor of fear in her voice.

"Has Link returned?" she asked, stepping away from the balcony and cutting across the room. "Has he gotten back yet?"

"I have not seen him, Highness," Impa replied, shaking her head. "What is the matter?"

"He's . . . he's too late," the Princess said, alarm filling her. "Impa, he's too late! The storm has begun! Ganondorf-"

Zelda's words were cut off as they heard the ringing of bells outside, and shouts of soldiers and guards over the roaring thunder.

"_To arms! To arms! We are invaded! Hylians, to arms!"_

"What is happening?" Impa hissed, and looked back to Zelda, her question answered by the girl's expression and words.

"He has chosen now to betray us," the Shiekah hissed, and Zelda nodded.

The door behind Impa burst open, and they could both hear shouting beyond. The Shiekah spun, a short, slender sword appearing in her hands, and found herself facing soldiers clad in the livery of the Hylian Royal Guard, purple capes and sashes adorning their shining plate mail armor. Swords were in hand and heraldic shields were on their left arms, helmets donned.

"Princess Zelda!" the lead guard, an officer named Mica, said quickly, as his men spun around to protect the entrance to her chambers. "We have been betrayed! Ganondorf has unleashed foul monsters from our own hidden passages and assaults the castle!"

"Zelda, secure the Ocarina!" Impa said, and her words caused the girl to bolt into action. Zelda ran across the room, to her secured chest, and began to open it, unlocking the container at the foot of her bed.

"Can we hold?" the Shiekah asked Mica, who shook his head.

"I know not," he admitted. "We were alerted moments ago."

"Then there is no time to waste," Impa said. "We must ready the horses before the stables are overrun and escape! Swiftly, before the whole castle is taken!"

"Agreed," Mica growled, nodding. "Guardsmen! To the stables! Prepare the horses for retreat! Impa, once you have the Princess secured you must follow us! I know not how long we will be able to hold them away from the stables."

"We will be right behind you," Impa said, looking out the open window. "Hurry!" The guards nodded and rushed outside, and in the distance, Impa heard shouts of battle, the clash of steel on steel, the howls of beasts and the screams of men, wounded and dying.

"I almost have this unlocked," the Princess aid, working the complex keys of the chest. Even for one who knew how to open the device, it would take long moments to unlock it, and would take ignorant thieves hours to figure it out otherwise. Impa nodded, peering out the doorway and into the hall beyond. It was clear for now. Behind her, she heard the click of the chest opening.

"I have the Ocarina!" she called, and Impa turned back, to see the Princess cradling her hands close to her chest. The Shiekah waved for the girl to hurry and follow, but her attention shifted suddenly to unexpected movement at the window.

A pair of lithe forms leapt into the chamber, slender, masked women with red hair and olive skin, scimitars in hand.

"Princess Zelda!" one of the Gerudo warriors shouted. "Surrender the Ocarina, and you will not be harmed!" The Princess backed away from the enemy, who advanced threateningly, blades ready to cut down the girl where she stood.

One of the Gerudo reeled backward, gasping in sock as a dagger punctured her throat, and Impa dashed forward, her slender blade in hand. The Gerudo whirled to face her, and the swords clashed, the assassin snarling as she faced Zelda's bodyguard.

"You cannot defeat our King, Shiekah!" she growled, hopping back, her scimitar deflecting a swift stab by Impa. "Ganondorf conquers all that he rests his eyes upon!" Impa ignored the Gerudo's words, instead snapping her sword across to deflect a cut at her flank. The Gerudo danced around Impa, who maneuvered to keep herself between Zelda and the assassin. Their blades rang a half-dozen times in half as many seconds as the lithe fighters struck and whirled. Amidst the storm of blades, Impa's left foot snuck forward, crashing into the Gerudo's knee and forcing her backward with a limp.

"Hyrule burns tonight," the assassin declared, and stepped to the side, letting Impa view out the window overlooking the city. Beyond the castle walls, they could see raging fires appearing amidst the stone and wooden houses, defying the torrential rains careening down form the blackening clouds. Zelda's gasp of shock and horror struck Impa's heart deeper than any blade could have. With a snarl, Impa slammed her sword against the Gerudo's blade.

"To resist Ganondorf is foolish!" the Gerudo declared, laughing. Her blade slashed down, nearly striking the Shiekah's face before being parried. "This is idiocy! This is madness!"

"Madness?" Impa whispered as she pushed the blade back, and she suddenly erupted forward, a flurry of strikes cutting in at the Gerudo assassin, who yelped in surprise as she worked to parry the storm of steel. A line of agony cut across the Gerudo's wrist, and her scimitar hit the floor as blood flew from her arm, not even realizing how Impa had snuck her blade in. The slender blade slid down, and then shot ahead, stabbing into the assassin's stomach, ending any questions she may have had and replacing them with shocked agony. Impa shoved her back toward the window.

"This is _Hyrule!"_ Impa shouted. Her leg lanced forward, hitting the assassin in the chest and launching her out the window, sending her tumbling down toward the courtyard hundreds of feet below.

Impa turned away from where the Gerudo had fallen, to see Zelda clenching the most precious treasure of the Royal family tightly in her hands. The Shiekah rushed over to the Princess and took one of her arms in her free hand.

"We must not delay any more," she hissed. "Every second we waste endangers us all!"

* * *

"Forward!" shouted the bloody-haired Ganondorf, cleaving down with his sword. His blade, blasphemous in nature and forged of black magic, slashed through a Hylian soldier's breastplate and sent the man to the stone floor, screaming in agony. "Spill the blood of Hyrule! Let the rivers run red with those who would stand against our destiny!" 

He raised a clenched hand as he strode up the corridor, his bestial soldiers on all sides, their blades and spears clashing with those of Hylian defenders. Ganondorf opened his hand, sending a cascade of magic down the corridor, burning through the armor of a half-dozen soldiers. Beside him, a hulking beast stabbed its spear into a fallen soldier, sending a fountain of crimson into the air, and a helmed head flew past as another soldier was decapitated by an undead monster. Ganondorf swung his sword across, smashing through the armor of another unfortunate soldier with a one-handed chop, sending the man sprawling, blood flowing from his chest and running over the fine carpet. The Gerudo stepped over the corpse and made his way toward one of the intersections that led toward the throne room.

The Hylians had managed to rally some semblance of organized defense at that point; a dozen soldiers were protecting the intersection with shield and sword at the ready, a quartet of the elite Royal Guard supporting them.

Bolts of lightning crashed into their lines as Ganondorf sent his sorcery forth, and then he dashed forward, into their midst. His greatsword hacked left and chopped right, and the heads of two guardsmen flew past. Beside him, his warriors smashed into the defenders, swords and spears striking and stabbing in a frenzy. The soldiers were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and ferocity of the attack, and though several of the dark king's minions collapsed into ashes, two more were ready to take their place.

The Royal Guard, however, did not fold as easily as their lesser-trained comrades did. They met Ganondorf himself with swords drawn and shields ready, and did not even blink as one of their number dropped to the stone, his helmet pierced by a bolt of dark lightning. Ganondorf's sword rang against their blades in rapid succession, the immense Gerudo wielding his heavy blade with the finesse of a saber but the savagery and weight of a massive war axe.

His sword hand flew across in a swift backhanded stroke, cleaving through the helmet of one of the Royal Guard, even as his other hand flew across, his gauntleted fist slamming into another Guardsman's breastplate and shoving him backward. The Gerudo snapped his blade across to deflect a swift thrust from the remaining Guardsman, and he swung the blade down as it met the Hylian's. The Guardsman's sword was forced down and away, and Ganondorf swept his blade back up, the heavy sword biting through the plate armor and hurling the bisected man across the hallway. The remaining, stunned Hylian was rushing back into the fray when Ganondorf stepped forward, slashing across with his blade to throw the man's sword out wide, and shoulder-checking him in the middle of his shield. Being a head taller and a hundred pounds heavier - in muscles and armor - Ganondorf had no difficulty winning the impact, and the Guardsmen was knocked off his feet, crashing to the floor in a clatter of steel on stone. Ganondorf's blade stabbed into the man's throat before he'd finished hitting the floor all the way, and the Gerudo tore his sword free.

"Massacre any who resist!" Ganondorf shouted, raising his bloody blade again, and his savage warriors cheered in their myriad voices once more as they rushed forward, charging into squads of Hylian soldiers and burying them under a wave of darkness, sweeping the defenders aside like piles of dry leaves.

* * *

"Sire!" came a call from the front of the throne room as one of the soldiers hurried inside. "The city burns! Ganondorf's beasts are sacking the city!" 

King Hyrule stared at the man for a moment, before closing his eyes and shaking his head. He drew his broadsword, cursing the treacherous Ganondorf as he did so.

"Send word to our soldiers to hold the gates leading out of the city, and to try and evacuate," he commanded. "We must hold fast and drive out these foul invaders! Ganondorf's minions are no match for the might of Hyrule!" The soldiers in the throne room with the king cheered at his words. He stepped forward, off the platform his throne sat upon, and strode forward, brandishing his blade.

"Call all available soldiers to the throne room!" he shouted. "We shall gather our strength here, and then strike out, and sweep this castle of the abominations that the traitor king has thrown at us! Hold fast, and give no ground to the enemy!" Another cheer went up, and messengers hurried out of the throne room to gather more reinforcements as the king tried to organize the castle's defenders.

"Father!" came a call from the side of the throne room, and the king looked up, to see his daughter rush into the chamber, with her bodyguard behind her.

"Zelda!" he called, hurrying to his only child as she approached. "Thank the Goddesses you're safe!" He pulled her into a hug at his side.

"Impa, thank her instead," the princess said as she wrapped her arms around her father's leg.

"Gerudo assassins," Impa said bluntly at the King's questioning look.

"They wanted the Ocarina," Zelda added, and the King's eyes widened.

"Is it safe?" he asked, and Impa nodded. He looked down at Zelda, and saw her clutching the sacred relic in her hands, and relief filled him for a moment, before the chamber shook, and shouts came from the throne room's vast double doors. Guards rushed toward the entrance, swords and pikes abandoned as they hurried to reinforce the door, shaking from impacts beyond. A burning scent filled the room, and he knew sorcery was being employed, which meant only a few possible things..

"Impa," he said quietly, looking back toward he Shiekah. "The castle is overrun, and I know not how long we can hold out. I am trying to rally our troops, but I fear we cannot stay here. Take Zelda, and flee this place, before the city also falls."

"But Father-" Zelda tried to protest, but he silenced her with a hand placed upon her head. The tall ruler lowered himself into a crouch beside her, and met his daughter's eyes.

"Hyrule is strong, my child, because the Royal Family is strong," he explained. "We are gifted by the Goddesses, and you in particular are as well." He closed his eyes, smiled, and shook his head. "I should have listened to you and your dreams. But now is too late for hindsight." He took her hands in his.

"Safeguard the Ocarina, Zelda," he said. The doorway beyond was smoking, unnatural fires burning it. "Hyrule, the Temple, and the Triforce are under your protection now." He pulled her into a tight hug, and then stood, nodding to Impa.

"Fulfill your oath, and protect the Royal Family. Flee this place, Impa," he ordered, and the bodyguard nodded, bowing slightly.

"As you command," she said, and took Zelda by the arm. The Princess resisted for a moment, not wanting to abandon her father, and tears began to fill her eyes. Sadness spread across the ruler's face, and he sighed.

"Go now, my daughter," he whispered. "Hyrule's fate lies in your hands now."

He watched as Impa led his daughter away from the fires of war and the death that was filling the castle. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she called his name as she was taken away. His heart was heavy as she departed, and he did not stir for several long moments after they had departed.

"Sire?" asked one of the Royal Guardsmen, touching the King's shoulder, and he looked up, fierce fires burning in his eyes as he spun toward the throne room's doors, which were burning as black magic tore through the wood.

"Abandon the door!" he commanded, and the soldiers holding it rushed backward, drawing and grabbing their weapons. The King strode forward, his magnificent, jeweled and gilded blade in hand. He turned to face his men, over a hundred and twenty warriors, ranging from Royal Guardsmen to fresh recruits just out of basic training.

"This is where we hold them!" he shouted, pointing at the floor. "This is where we fight! This is where they die!" A cheer ran up from the soldiers and warriors as he spoke, and the King turned toward the door as it splintered.

"Remember this day, men," he declared, grasping his blade in both hands. "For Hyrule!"

"_For Hyrule!"_

The door shattered, fires of evil magic blasting it apart, and darkness billowed forth. The Hylians let out roars of defiance, and surged forward, swords and pikes in hand and fear abandoned, replaced by pride, fury, rage, and determination. King Hyrule led the charge toward the advancing enemy, and he saw what stood in the middle of the enemy force.

Tall, taller than the king, clad in obsidian black armor, with hair like burning red blood and with baleful yellow eyes, stood Ganondorf, the King of the Gerudo. His blasphemous sword in hand, dark magic cascading around him and his cape waving in the swirling maelstrom of magic and fire, he advanced, a smirk on his lips.

With a roar of fury that the few Hylian survivors claimed could be heard throughout the entire castle, the King of Hyrule raised his blade and met Ganondorf head on. Blood and ashes flew, black fire raged as crimson erupted from the torn bodies on both sides, Hylian soldiers screaming and fighting, cursing and shouting as they struck and thrust. Beasts snarled, undead laughed, and Gerudo assassins danced. Blades crashed and scraped, men howled in infuriated agony, and monsters wailed as they were vanquished.

In the center of it, blades colliding like battling titans, oblivious to the slaughter surrounding them, were the two Kings. For what seemed like hours they battled, neither speaking, one king filled with rage and defiance, the other showing only amusement and contempt. Ganondorf and Hyrule fought with a fury that made all other conflicts seem trivial, and the Hylian soldiers took inspiration from their King's fierce, seemingly peerless battle.

Blood spilled on the rich carpeting as, one by one, the Hylians were cut down. Though brave and ferocious, they were outnumbered by beasts and warrior women with skills and arcane powers beyond their own. They met their foes, fighting with tooth and nail, but were pressed down under the weight of their monstrous, vile enemies, who pushed them back, sending corpses to crash down amidst the chaos. Black, eldritch fires burned and ash filled the air as abominations fell, but it seemed to hardly matter.

At long last, the inevitable came to pass, and the last Hylian soldier, a raw recruit of barely seventeen years, was cut down by three spears, two swords, and a scimitar piercing his lower back.

King Hyrule sank to one knee, panting in exhaustion and pain, for bruises and minor wounds had covered his body, his robes soaked with his own blood and sweat. He raised his sword, parrying another blow by Ganondorf, who seemed to not even be winded by their battle. The evil blade clashed with his sword, and Ganondorf reared back, laughing, and swept it across. The heavy greatsword slammed into Hyrule's blade, shattering the beautiful longsword in his hands.

The King's eyes met Ganondorf's as he realized that the battle was finally over, and Ganondorf raised his blade high.

"Zelda . . . ." he whispered as the sword hovered in the air.

With a triumphant laugh from the dark sorcerer, the sword descended, and Hyrule Castle fell to Ganondorf.

* * *

Within the throne room, the battle seemed to have lasted hours to the adrenaline-fueled soldiers and their steadfast king, but to the outside world less than ten minutes had passed, and it had taken nearly that time for Impa to fight her way to the royal stables, as monsters and assassins attempted to stop the pair. 

"Hurry, Princess!" shouted one of the dozen Royal Guardsmen that had secured the stables, ushering the royal heir and her bodyguard inside. Beyond, over the roars of thunder and the cascading rain, they could hear the din of battle. Arrows struck the top of the royal stable as Impa hauled Zelda up, putting her on the back of one of the royal steeds, a stallion named Zephyr. The animal whinnied nervously, for though he was battle-trained, he could sense the darkness descending on the city and the castle.

Royal Guardsmen on proud, barded mounts were surrounding the pair as they mounted up, among them Captain Mica. Two more Guardsmen opened the doors leading out of the stable, and as they swung open, they could hear bestial roars in the courtyard outside. Swords slid out of sheaths as the two soldiers met a trio of Ganondorf's lizardmen, and several seconds of bloody combat ensued as they bought Impa the precious seconds she needed to mount up and get ready to depart, draping her cloak over herself and Zelda.

Of the pair of Guardsmen, only one remained, bloody and battered. He waved and shouted for the Princess to flee, and was rewarded for his duties by being hurled away at the end of a lightning bolt. Zelda looked outside in the direction where the lightning bolt came from, and her heart jumped into her throat.

Striding across the courtyard, heedless of the rain and the chaos, was Ganondorf, his sword covered in blood. He raised his left hand, and the Princess let out a cry of shock, and the Guardsmen shouted in rage and disbelief.

He held the bloodstained crown of Hyrule in his hands, laughing as he advanced.

"Guardsmen, forward!" Captain Mica shouted, and as one, the Royal Guard surged ahead on their horses, and Impa urged Zephyr after them. They broke free of the stables as Ganondorf pointed his sword at them and loosed another blast of magic, searing through another Guardsman's armor and flinging him from his horse. As one, the riders wheeled toward the front gate of the castle, where Hylian troops were still fighting to hold the entrance open. Within the protective formation was Zephyr and his precious riders, protected by an ablative wall of knights who moved to shield them from Ganondorf.

Two of the Guardsmen peeled off to charge the sorcerer directly, lances lowered as they thundered in. Dark magic billowed from the Gerudo's free hand, and one of the brave Hylians was sent crashing to the stone with a gaping, smoking wound in his chest. The other closed, yelling a battlecry in the name of Hyrule as he tied to impale the Gerudo where he stood. An instant before the lance would have impaled the evil king, however, Ganondorf sidestepped and brought his sword down onto the spear, throwing it aside. His free hand clamped over the shaft, and with a mocking laugh on his lips, he yanked hard as the rider passed. The Guardsman flew off his mount, crashing to the stone, and was beset by a half-dozen of the Gerudo's retinue, swords and spears stabbing with savagery.

By that time, the remaining Guardsmen and their charges had ridden through the gates, moments before a wave of lizardmen and Wolfos buried the remaining gate guards. With an amused chuckle, the Gerudo raised his free hand, channeling his sorcery, and darkness surged around him. A great black shape appeared next to the Gerudo, taking on the form of a huge, heavily-armored horse with baleful red eyes. The sorcerer clambered onto his mount and let out a shout of triumph as he charged after the fleeing Princess.

* * *

The outer grounds of the castle were in better shape than the interior, as Ganondorf's minions has assaulted the castle from the inside. There were almost no soldiers outside, those on guard patrol having hurried back into the castle to fend off the invaders or rushing out into the city to help fight the greater force of the enemy. The surviving Royal Guard and their charges hurried down the roads leading out of the castle and toward the city. 

"Impa!" called Mica as they rode. "The southern gate, at last word, is clear, but we've heard the east and west gates are choked with fighting and fleeing citizens!"

"Then we ride straight through," Impa replied calmly, and Mica nodded. Moments later, they neared the outer edges of the castle grounds, and saw the city itself.

Bright flames rose into the sky, defying the pounding rain, and monsters and men could be seen among the buildings, fighting a savage, brutal close-quarters war. Though unarmed citizens could be seen fleeing the chaos, they saw almost none of them being harassed or attacked by Ganondorf's minions, who focused entirely on the Hylian soldiers and militia rushing to fight them. Arrows careened through the air, soldiers and beasts met each others' blades and shields, and chaos filled the city.

For the riders, the savage fighting was a dark blessing, for most of Ganondorf's minions were occupied with battling the dismounted Hylian troops, and few chose to tangle with the tight, heavily-armed formation of riders. What few got in the path of the Royal Guard were swiftly run down beneath the hooves of the beasts and struck by long lances. The half-dozen surviving escorts led the Princess and her bodyguard through the streets, and had nearly reached the marketplace, when sizzling energy took one man in the back, and he went tumbling to the pavement.

"Ganondorf is pursuing us!" Mica shouted, and he looked back, to see the night-black steed of the evil king thundering a fair distance behind them, his mad laughter resounding over the chaotic din of the battle even from as far away as he was.

"Guardsmen!" Mica shouted as they burst into the marketplace. "Prepare to come about!" Acknowledgements filled the air as they rode around the central fountain, cracked and broken in the maelstrom.

"What are you doing?" Impa asked, to which Mica managed a slight smile underneath his helm.

"Our duty," he replied as they neared the south end of the marketplace. "Ride on, Princess of Hyrule! We shall hold him here! Guardsmen! Come about!"

As one, the five surviving Royal Guard halted their horses and wheeled about, blocking the street. They lowered their lances as they saw Ganondorf approaching, the evil king lowering himself in his saddle, his greatsword held high.

"For Hyrule!" Captain Mica shouted, rearing his horse back. "For honor and glory!" They burst forward, rushing Ganondorf, lances at the ready to impale him and is blasphemous steed as he rode alone against the finest horsemen of the kingdom.

Mica could swear her saw Ganondorf's tight, mad smirk, and then saw light playing over the sword. There was a burst of bright, searing illumination, and four beams of light flew out, striking the ground around Ganondorf-

-and mere seconds before the Guardsmen would have met the Gerudo, a quartet of ghostly cavalrymen with monstrous features and long lances appeared, flanking Ganondorf and leaping to the attack.

The cavalry crashed, lances met, and men howled in pain. Captain Mica screamed in denial as he raised his shield, and Ganondorf's own sword slammed into it, breaking his arm and sending him crashing to the pavement, the stones soaked in both blood and rainwater.

He lay there as Ganondorf rode past, the captain lying among the bodies of the shocked and slain Royal Guardsmen, and prayed Zelda would reach safety as he blacked out.

* * *

He held his shield over his head as he ran across the open plain, rain hammering around him. His little legs pumped as he ran through the soaked grass, mud creeping onto his boots as water clung to his green clothes. 

Navi had sensed the evil magic in the storm, and he had felt it as well: a terrible sense of foreboding and danger, and an intense urgency. That sense had fueled his need to run as fast as he could, virtually sprinting across the fields as the storm had swept in.

As he came to the top of one of the hills that gave him sight of the Hyrule Castle town's walls, Link suddenly understood. He had seen fires before, and had seen destruction in his travels, but this was something he had never imagined looking upon: a city wreathed in flames, war and chaos filling the city limits as men and monsters battled with an unmatched ferocity.

He ran toward the city, praying that Zelda would be safe, that she had escaped the chaos that Ganondorf had doubtlessly caused. On the tail end of that was doubt; he wondered if, had he only hurried more, he might have been able to get back to the city before Ganondorf had made his move.

That was irrelevant now, he knew, and he hurried toward the city gates. All he could do now was find Zelda and, together, they would be able to save the Triforce and undo this disaster.

The drawbridge was raised as he approached, but he could hear the clanking of massive gears inside as he neared. The walls loomed high above him, and over the storm he could hear the chaos inside the city, the roars of beasts and shouts of men as they fought. The bridge continued to lower, and he waited as it dropped, wishing it would go faster so he could get into the city sooner. Lightning flashed, and thunder followed an instant later, meaning the storm was directly overhead, and Link shivered as the rain continue d to pour around him, bouncing off his Deku-bark shield.

The drawbridge crashed down to the ground, a sound that rivaled the thunder up above, and the sound suddenly brought a flood of memories surging back to him, foremost among them the terrifying nightmare he had seen before Navi had come to him. He realized at that moment that this _was_ the scene he had dreamed weeks ago, standing in the middle of a torrential downpour, alone, in the middle of darkness, outside the city.

Then he saw the white stallion, and terror filled him as he remembered the rest of the dream. He watched, mouth open and speechless, as the stallion rode past, the tall, white-haired form of what had to be Impa riding the horse, and in front of her, a bundle of blonde hair and terrified blue eyes-

"Zelda!" he shouted, and she saw him, her eyes widening. She rose up, shouting something to Impa, and then to Link. Her arm rose and pumped, and something small and blue flew past him, disappearing amidst the grass nearby. He looked down, trying to see what the Princess had thrown to him, but could not find it immediately. The Kokiri looked back up, to see the white stallion disappearing into the rain and darkness, leaving him alone.

Over the roar of the descending rain, he heard a snort, and turned, to see a titanic mass of shadow, a black horse covered in dark armor, and atop this steed sat a figure in equally dark gear, leather and iron heaped upon his massive frame and long, blood red hair descending from his scalp.

Fear gripped Link's heart as he saw Ganondorf, not the amicable figure whose darkness was sheathed under a cloak of polite friendship, but a terrifying monster, a man whose armor bore the splatters of blood from those whom he had killed, whose sword was held by his side, bearing the crimson stains of the men he had slaughtered today.

"Damn, she escaped," he muttered darkly, shaking his head as he looked around. "The Ocarina . . . ."

_Was that what she threw me?_

The baleful yellow eyes flicked down, noticing the azure glow of Navi, and the boy beside the fairy. The Gerudo's eyes widened as he recognized the boy.

"You there," he growled. "The white horse! You must have seen it. Which way did it go?" Link remained silent, not intent of revealing anything, even to give Ganondorf some misinformation. Part of it was his own steadfast resolve, but the other part of it was sheer, inexplicable fear.

"Answer me!" Ganondorf demanded, his voice filled with enough power to make any man quail. Link did not reply, however, and instead took a step back, his shield in hand. He met Ganondorf's eyes, and suddenly realized he had to swallow his fear.

This is the man who killed the Great Deku Tree.

That thought filled Link with a rage, and he reached up over his left shoulder and tore the Kokiri Sword free. He settled into a guard, the tiny blade ready and in his hands as he replaced his terror with anger and determination, his blue eyes peeking over the top of his shield.

Ganondorf stared at him for a long moment, and over the wailing rain and biting winds, the Kokiri heard quiet, amused laughter.

"You're serious?" he asked? "You . . . You want to take me on?" His laughter was loud and powerful, and Ganondorf threw back his head.

"I like your attitude!" he said, and raised his free hand. Purple light surged around his palm, intensifying into a white glow, and Link let out a cry of surprise as the energy lanced out, directly into his shield. Pain shot up his arm from a hundred places, and he fell back into the soaked grass. He looked down at his arm, and realized with horrified shock that his magical, Deku-bark shield had been _shattered_ by Ganondorf's spell.

"Pathetic little fool!" the Gerudo shouted, laughing. "I am _Ganondorf!_ And I will _rule _Hyrule!"

And then he was gone, leaving Link lying there in the mud and rain, his horse disappearing into the night as he tried to chase down Zelda.

Link slowly rose to his feet, looking down at what little remained of his shield, the magical bark having been taken from the Great Deku Tree himself, one of his last connections to his fallen father. He shook his head; it hurt to see the shield broken, but he had other duties to attend to.

"Navi, find the Ocarina," he said after a moment, and the fairy bobbed once in acknowledgement before she started swooping over the environment, hunting for the blue glow. Link did so as well, rustling through the grass where he remembered the instrument had fallen. After a few moments, Navi called his name, and he ran over. He crouched, reaching down with a trembling hand, and his fingers closed over blue object, tingling with magic.

"The Ocarina of Time," he whispered.

He lifted the Ocarina up, looking it over. It shone with a faint blue light, and seemed to have been perfectly crafted, not a blemish or notch on it. Unlike the wooden one Saria had made for him, the Ocarina of Time was made of smooth, polished ceramic, and he could feel the magic coursing through the instrument.

Then, everything disappeared under a wave of illumination, and the rain seemed to have stopped, the clouds vanishing, and he stood alone, pure white light surrounding him as he found himself within the depths of a vision. In the distance, seeming to come from everywhere at once, Link could hear the low, reverent chanting of a choir, and he instinctively knew that they were venerating the Goddesses.

"_Link."_

The words came at him as a distant echo, but he recognized the voice as he spun around.

"Zelda," he said, and he saw her standing in front of an altar, the same black marble altar that stood in the Temple of Time. She turned toward him, their eyes meeting, and he could tell she was trying to smile, but seemed to have been overcome by solemn sadness.

_"If you're here, then its too late,"_ she said, shaking her head. _"You won't be seeing me again."_

"But-" Link protested, however Zelda's vision continued to speak, heedless of his words.

_"All that remains now is to protect the Triforce,"_ she said. _"Open the Door of Time and claim what lies beyond. In order to do this, you will need the keys to unlock the Door, including the Spiritual Stones and the Ocarina you now have. Place the Stones upon the altar, and play this song, an ancient melody that can only be played properly on the Ocarina of Time."_

An ocarina, identical to the one he now held in his hands, appeared in her grasp, and she raised it to her lips. The chanting in the background faded, and he heard her play the song, a deep solemn melody, that struck deep in his heart with reverence and power. As he heard the song, he felt as if his vision expanded to encompass the past and the future, his eyes falling across the width and breadth of the world for just a moment as the music buried deep within his heart.

"_This is the Song of Time,"_ she said._ "Play it in front of the altar in the Temple, and defend the Triforce, Link. Good luck . . . And farewell."_

The vision faded, and the rain streamed down atop him, sending shivers up Link's spine as he stood there outside the castle town's walls. He looked down at the instrument, and then out into the blackness, before nodding. He slid the Ocarina into his pouch and dashed across the drawbridge, diving headlong into the maelstrom of chaos and violence.

The Kokiri ducked down back alleys, dodging around fighting bodies, his new mission taking paramount importance. He ran past a Hylian soldier locking blades with a lizardman, and the boy slowed only to slash his sword across the beast's hamstrings, dropping it to its knees and giving the Hylian the opening to finish it off. Link hurried on, his legs pumping as he weaved though the streets toward the eastside of the city, and the Temple of Time.

Her ran down an alley, and came to a halt s another lizardman appeared at the far end. It spied Link, and he saw the beast's eyes widen even more than they already were, and it ran toward him, sword drawn.

Navi flashed in front of the beast, slowing it down and blinding it, and Link struck, dashing forward and stabbing his blade into the monster's chest. It reeled backward, black fire washing over its body as it fell, and the Kokiri ran past, only to find another pair of the beasts were running up the alley toward him. Link quickly tore out his boomerang and sighted one of the lizardmen, and let fly with the enchanted weapon. The boomerang lanced outward as Link drew his sword once more, and the monster on the left reeled backward as it slammed into its chest, knocking it off its feet. The other monster closed in, waving its sword wildly, and Link rushed toward it, almost suicidally. The lizard slashed down with its blade, and let out a cry of triumph, only to find its blade striking bare stone.

Link rolled around behind it, rainwater sticking to his clothes as he did so, and leapt up at the side of the alley. His boots planted against the stone, and he kicked up and off the wall, giving him the height he needed to stab the Kokiri Sword between its shoulder blades. The monster howled and fell, swiftly consumed by the dark magic that had created it, and Link whirled on the other monster as it recovered. His right hand flew up and plucked the returning boomerang out of the air as his left pumped, hurling the Kokiri Sword end over end to bury into the monster's gut. It doubled over in shock and pain, and Navi flashed into front of it, blinding the beast in the few seconds Link needed to run over, tear his blade free, and thrust it into the monster's throat.

"Let's get to the Temple!" Link shouted as he leapt over the burning remains, and Navi followed after him as he rushed through the burning city.

They neared the Temple of Time, and Link thought he could hear the violence fading in the background as he drew closer. Though houses still burned around the ancient edifice, no on could be seen, and everything became strangely muted once more as he neared the structure. Link ran up the steps leading into the Temple of Time, not pausing to take in its simplistic grandeur this time, and rushed inside. The weight of the Temple's magic and power fell on him once again as he entered the central hallway and hurried across the polished white marble, toward the altar.

Link came to a halt before the altar, clutching the Ocarina in his hands as he panted in exhaustion. With shaking hands, he raised the Ocarina, remembering Zelda's words, and the song she had played, the solemn tones that had buried themselves in his heart, almost as if they were _meant_ to be remembered and played by him.

The Temple echoed with the notes as Link played them, slowly and deliberately, intent on getting the song right the first time. The Song of Time reverberated across the room echoing and strengthening, the walls and windows and floors seeming to resonate and strengthen the music as he played.

His eyes were closed, otherwise Link would have seen the glow emerging from his pouch. He felt a tingling from his belt as he finished the song, however, and he looked down, to see the pouch glowing from an inner light. When he opened the sack, he saw the trio of Spiritual Stones gleaming with impossibly powerful light, stinging his eyes, and he looked away for a moment, before reaching down into the pouch and taking the three gems in hand and lifting them out of the pouch toward the altar.

The Spiritual Stones lifted themselves out of his hand, and he watched in fascination as thy moved toward the altar, hovering over the black marble and slowly spinning, their illumination fading to a pleasant glow.

The chamber rumbled, and the crest on the Door of Time suddenly burst with brilliant illumination. Link had to shield his eyes from the light, and when it faded, he could hear the stone scraping and grinding as the door split apart. He looked up, watching the white stone slide open, and revealed a passage beyond, leading into an open chamber beyond.

The boy stepped around the altar, and the weight of the Temple's magic and ancient power doubled over as he walked up the steps and through the door. Hushed reverence filled the room as he walked down the passage toward the chamber beyond, illuminated by a single shaft of light. A tingle filled his body as Link realized that he was the first person to have ever entered this chamber since the Temple of Time had been first built, ages ago.

The chamber was built of solid, polished white marble, like the rest of the Temple's interior, with near-opaque stained glass windows high overhead. In spite of the chaos and dark weather outside, light poured in through the windows, including the single powerful shaft of light that struck the pedestal in the center of the chamber.

In the center of that pedestal was a sword.

Link walked forward, and he could _feel_ the weight of the Goddesses upon him as he walked up the steps of the pedestal, toward the sword, which was driven into a stone in the middle of the platform, at the exact center of a massive Triforce symbol. The blade gleamed with inner light, its surface a perfect mirror sheen, its edge sharper than anything Link had imagined. The handle was crafted of blue steel, with a flaring hilt of stylized wings, and set into the hilt was a golden Triforce symbol.

"Its . . ." Navi whispered, her voice filled with awe as they looked upon the blade. "It's the legendary blade . . . . the sword that vanquishes all evil. The sword of the Goddesses themselves.

"_The Master Sword."_

Link said nothing as he walked forward, looking upon the blade. It was big for him, as long as he was tall, but he could feel the strength and the purity radiating off of the sword as he approached. There was no way Ganondorf would be able to stand against this holy weapon, he knew.

Without any words, for words were truly irrelevant now, Link stepped up to the stone, and placed his hands on the handle of the perfect, divine sword. His fingers closed around the blade, and he flexed his muscles.

The Master Sword leapt from its place, and blue light engulfed Link as he felt himself being pulled into the Sacred Realm.

* * *

His boots resounded as he walked through the chamber. The weight of its ancient power filled him, bore down on him, and tried to deny his rightful place, but he threw it aside, ignoring it. The ancient magics were nothing before his might. 

"As I always suspected," he whispered, chuckling as he strode around the altar, and approached the open Door of Time.

"Princess, you were a fool to think hat the Royal family were the only ones who knew of the secrets of the Sacred Realm." His laughter echoed through the chamber, mocking the wards and magic that defended this place. He strode down the passage, into the room filled with pure blue light, and his smile grew.

"You think I didn't notice, did you?" he asked the light. "Stupid kid. I knew you were hunting the Spiritual Stones, and I knew what you and the Princess were plotting." He shook his head.

"And I knew the truth of the Master Sword, too." Ganondorf walked forward, stepping into the light, his laughter echoing over and over.

"You've led me to the gates of the Sacred Realm. I owe it all to you, kid . . . ."

* * *

-

* * *

One thing that I was always really interested in seeing was what had happened when Ganondorf betrayed Hyrule and forced Zelda to flee. While obviously in the game most of Hyrule Castle Town is still operating normally, the OoT manga actually showed the city burning and the castle being overrun by Ganondorf's minions. I decided to go with this, as I think the main reason why Castle Town was relatively untouched in-game was for the benefit of Young Link during the times when he has to go back. I really wanted to show how evil Ganondorf is even before he unleashes his Just As Planned move in this chapter . . . not to mention it was just plain fun writing him massacring Hylians left and right. I've always been a fan of heroic ordinaries fighting impossibly powerful villains without hesitation also.

Multiple _300_ quotes in this chapter. Have fun finding them.

An odd rarity happened with this chapter: instead of having to beat my brain to come up with a title, I had way too _many_ titles. The original title was "The Ocarina of Time" but I decided to let that one sit for a much later date. Eventually I settled on this title, though I'm not terribly satisfied with it.

Next chapter, things will continue to get more awesome, for we're finally going to have Adult Link, and boots will be applied to asses, I assure you.

Until next chapter...


	12. Chapter XI: Seven Years

_**Chapter XI: Seven Years**_

"_Link . . . ."_

The voice descended upon him, echoing from a great distance, and his eyes began to open. Cloudy light stabbed into his vision as a powerful sense of grogginess filled him. He clenched his hands, and felt something odd, something he couldn't place his mental fingers on as the voice resounded in his mind.

_"Awaken, Link,"_ the voice spoke again. He looked up his eyes focusing as he started to stand, and once again something felt strangely _off_ as he rose to his feet. He was standing on a platform in the middle of a vast chamber, shimmering blue water flowing from nowhere at his feet and disappearing over the edges into empty darkness. Scattered in the shadows were more platforms with waterfalls cascading off them, eternal flows forever pouring in the pure, reverent silence.

An azure glow emerged from the folds of his cap, and he heard Navi's groggy voice in his ears as she, too, seemed to awaken.

_"Awaken, chosen one."_ The voice came from directly head, and he looked forward, to see a figure standing before him, at the edge of the platform. A man stood there, clad in gold and brown robes, with white hair ringing his scalp, a think white beard, and bushy eyebrows, beneath which were penetrating eyes. He seemed to radiate a near-ageless strength and wisdom, despite his ponderous girth.

"I am Rauru," the man's voice resounded, filled with power and knowledge. "I am the Sage of Light, one of the eternal spirits of knowledge and wisdom that resides within Hyrule, taken material form and awakened to my role long ago." Link opened his mouth to speak, but Rauru held a sleeved hand up.

"You doubtless wish to know where you are," he replied. "Understandable. To properly explain, you require some context. Ages ago, the Sages, with the Goddess' blessings and gifts, built the Temple of Time, which would stand as a gateway to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm. Within the Sacred Realm is another temple, known as the Temple of Light. This is the Chamber of Sages, within the Temple of Light itself." He gestured out to the room surrounding them.

"The Temple of Light is situated in the very center of the Sacred Realm," Rauru continued. "The Master Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane that you drew from the Pedestal of Time, was the last key to unlocking the Sacred Realm."

"And that was how I ended up here?" Link asked, but he stopped as the words echoed in his own ears, and he realized that they were far louder than he'd intended, far stronger, and far _deeper._

Rauru saw the confusion on his face, and as Link reached up to touch his throat, and then ran his hand up his features, the Sage spoke.

"Do not be alarmed, Link," he said in soothing tones. "Look at yourself."

Link did so, and his eyes widened in complete shock.

He still wore his Kokiri clothing, and his long, floppy hat was on his head, but beneath the outer green tunic was an inner, long-sleeved white tunic, and white trousers covered his once-bare legs. Rugged leather boots and leather gauntlets with fingerless leather gloves encased his extremities, but what shocked him the most was that his arms, his legs, and his entire body had expanded. He was taller, larger, and, as he looked at Rauru, he realized that he _had become the size of a Hylian adult._

"Link," Navi whispered. "You've . . . grown up?"

"What's happened?" he asked in his deeper, more masculine voice, the voice of a young Hylian adult, rather than the light, sing-song tone of a Kokiri child.

"The Master Sword," Rauru replied. "It is a sacred blade that evil ones may never touch, and though it is a blade, the power of the Goddesses courses through it, and it has a will of its own. When you took the blade in hand, the sword sensed that you were its destined wielder, and only those worthy of bearing the title of 'Hero of Time' may wield it." Rauru's eyes met Link's.

"You were too young to become the Hero of Time, however," the Sage said. "The Master Sword sealed your spirit here, in the Sacred Realm, in this secure stronghold, for seven Hylian years, until you had reached the age and the strength to properly wield the blade and become the Hero of Time. You have awoken to your destiny, Link.

"Do you understand?" He waited as Link digested the knowledge that had just been imparted to him.

The enormity of what had just been said took a few moments for Link to truly understand, and Kaepora Gaebora's cryptic words of destiny and fate echoed in his mind. The Great Deku tree's wisdom and words filled his memories, and he recalled Zelda's dreams. He had just been a boy, rushing out into the world on a mission for his dead father, and helping Princess Zelda to overcome a great enemy, an enemy he wanted vengeance on, but now . . . .

Hero of Time? Chosen by the Goddesses and the Master Sword itself? Him? _Link?_

The boy - no, a _man_ now - took a long, hard breath, trying to come to copes with what he had just been told. Finally, he looked up, shaking his head in disbelief.

"This is . . . a lot," he managed, and Rauru nodded.

"Much has been placed upon your shoulders," Rauru replied. "These are grim times, and despair runs strong across the breadth of Hyrule." Link blinked, not understanding, and then remembered the time that had passed.

"Seven years," he hissed. "What's happened to Hyrule? Ganondorf? _Zelda_?" Rauru closed his eyes, almost sadly.

"You opened the Door of Time in the name of peace," he stated. "However, you knew nothing of the Master Sword's nature. Even your companion and the learned Princess Zelda knew little of the blade's true nature and its powers. When you took the Master Sword in hand, it unlocked the passage into the Sacred Realm, for _anyone_ who would dare to enter.

"Ganondorf followed you."

The words hit Link like a sledgehammer, and he nearly lost his balance from what the Sage said. He shook his head, tying to deny what he was hearing. Ganondorf, reaching the Sacred Realm, because of _him?_ He had _let_ Ganondorf enter when he was trying to stop him? He had allowed Ganondorf to obtain the Triforce?

"Do not blame yourself, Link," Rauru said quickly, and he looked up at the Sage. "Your actions were done of the purest intentions, and through no fault of your own did the Sacred Realm become invaded by the minions of evil." Link shook his head, not entirely convinced, but Rauru continued.

"The Temple of Light was breached," he said. "And Ganondorf laid his hands upon the Triforce. His power filled the Sacred Realm with evil, and he crowned himself the Great King of Evil. Darkness radiated out from each of the Temples in Hyrule, fonts of strength from the Sacred Realm, and covered the land in shadow.

"My power now has little influence beyond this Temple of Light, the last true bastion of righteousness in this realm or in Hyrule itself," he said. He looked over Link's shocked, forlorn expression, and his next words changed everything.

"There is still hope," he said, straightening, and Link looked up, his eyes brightening. "Ganondorf's corruption may yet be undone, for there are greater powers at work here. The other Sages of Hyrule still slumber, in the mortal realms." He raised his hands, and golden light began to surge around the Sage, and extended outward, engulfing Link as well.

"Find the other Sages," he spoke. "Awaken them, and their power will aid you. Only with the strength of the other Sages can Hyrule be purified of Ganondorf's taint, and only then can he be faced and put to justice, by the very blade you drew to defeat him in the first place."

"How do I awaken them?" Link asked, to which the ancient sage laughed, his light filling Link's body with strength. He felt magic pouring into him, and the awkwardness he was feeling with his new body changed, shifting and fading, and only strength and vitality replaced it.

"When the taint of Ganondorf is cleansed from each Temple, they will hear the call and open their hearts and their hidden power to you," he spoke, and the light coalesced in front of Link, taking on a long, solid shape.

"I am Rauru," he said. "Sage of Light, and I offer my power to you, along with the blade you have rightfully been born to carry." Link reached out, and took the leather scabbard, of fine material, patterned with gold against dark blue. Within the sheath was the broad, mirrored sheen of the Master Sword, its wings flaring around the scabbard and the belt that would loop over his shoulder. He reached up and took the sword in hand, drawing it from its sheath, the echo of its hiss filling the chamber.

Link looked into his own reflection as he felt the blade, tingling in his grasp, the divine power his to command, and to bring to bear against darkness and evil. He saw his own hard eyes, and his own adult face, and though he didn't understand how a Kokiri could have _grown up_, he didn't need to know. He had the strength now, the body and the weapons and the determination to destroy Ganondorf and save Hyrule.

He slid the blade back into its scabbard and looped it over his shoulder, the Master Sword's handle over his left shoulder in easy reach, and faced Rauru as he tightened the bandoleer.

"Your other arms," the Sage spoke, and held out his hands. The light intensified, and the items he had carried with him into the Sacred Realm appeared as well. His beloved slingshot, now but a toy in his huge hands; the bare wooden ocarina Saria had crafted, a tiny thing in his hands; the bomb bag that Darunia had given him, and the pouch of rupees he had taken from the Dodongo's Cavern; the enchanted boomerang he had taken from Jabu-Jabu's belly, swallowed by the fish-god in anticipation that Link would come to use it to destroy the parasite within. He affixed all of these to his belt, in comfortable places, except the slingshot, which he put in a pouch, the tiny toy too small to be useful for him now.

Next was the Kokiri Sword. It had been but a short sword in his hands as a boy, but now it was only a dagger; a sharp, deadly, enchanted dagger, nonetheless, and he put its carved wooden scabbard on his belt, in easy reach.

Finally, he took the blue ceramic of the sacred treasure Zelda had entrusted him with. He looked over the glowing blue Ocarina of Time, and slid that into a pocket inside his tunic, not intending to lose it at any cost.

Rauru looked over him as he was properly attired and armed, and nodded.

"Now, go forth, Hero of Time," he spoke, and blue light swirled up around his body. "Awaken the other Sages, and save Hyrule!"

* * *

The light faded, and they were alone in the shadows, a shaft of light streaming down on them as they stood in the darkened chamber of white marble. 

"Back in the Temple of Time," he mused, and though he knew it had been seven years since he had last been here, it felt like mere hours had passed. Link looked around, and felt a powerful sense of foreboding and darkness in the room, before he realized what was different: the weight and press of the enchantments on the Temple of Time were gone. There was still the hushed reverence, but the raw power the place had exhibited had faded.

"Navi, do you know where we can find these Temples?" he asked as he looked around the room. Her glow dimmed for a moment, and he knew that was a negative.

"The only Temple I know of is the Forest Temple, deep in the Lost Woods," she replied, and he nodded. As good a place as any to start, and he was starting to get worried about his home. How had the Kokiri fared since he'd been gone?

The passage leading out of the sanctified chamber was open, and Link started down the passage. Then, at the same moment Navi spoke, his keen ears caught a whisper of movement behind him, on the Pedestal of Time.

"Link, behind you," she whispered, and his left hand flew up, tearing the Master Sword from its sheath as he whirled on the presence. In his hands, the blade felt light, lighter than it should have . . . .

There was a figure standing on the platform, slender and tall, the same height as Link. His body was wrapped in blue sleeves and leggings, which clung to toned muscles, and his upper body and shirt were wreathed in white wrappings, including around his head and face. Blood red eyes peered out at Link behind tufts of blond hair. On the front of his clothes was a rendition of an eye weeping blood, a symbol he had seen less prominently on Impa.

"Lower your weapon," spoke the man, his voice smooth and calm, filled with an odd melodic quality that Link couldn't place. "I am not your enemy." The Master Sword dipped, but only a couple of inches, letting the stranger know that Link wasn't certain of his intentions. He was still on guard after Ganondorf's trickery.

"I've been waiting for you, Hero of Time," he said, and _that_ caused Link to lower his sword a bit more.

"When evil rules all," he continued, "An awakening voice will sound from the Sacred Realm, and call those destined to be Sages, who will dwell within the five Temple across Hyrule."

"Where are these temples?" Link asked.

"Scattered across the breadth of the kingdom and beyond," the figure replied, closing his eyes for a moment. "One in a deep forest, one atop a high mountain, one beneath a vast lake, one within the house of the dead, and one within a goddess of the sands." He opened his eyes and looked to Link again.

"Together with the Hero of Time, the Sages will bind the evil that has spread across the land and return peace to Hyrule . . . according to the legend passed down by my people, the Shiekah." The symbol on his chest took on a new meaning to Link, who nodded as he understood.

"I am known as Sheik, one of the few survivors of the Shiekah," he continued, and his eyes flicked to the Master Sword, which had lowered to Link's side. "That blade . . . as I see you standing there with that mythical sword, you really do look like the Hero of Time."

"Why are you telling me this?" Link asked, to which Sheik shrugged.

"I have as much of an interest in saving this land as you do," he replied. "If you believe what I'm telling you, you have no choice but to seek out the five temples and purify them, awakening the Sages. One such Sage is already within the Forest Temple, but her spirit cannot hear the call of the Sacred Realm." Sheik paused, and fixed his eyes with Link's.

"The Sage is a girl you should know well," he added, and fear struck Link's heart.

"Saria?" he whispered, and he knew instinctively that he was right. Sheik did not reply, instead simply closing his eyes and giving Link another neutral shrug.

"You must find her," he stated. "Only with her help can your homeland be saved from the evil billowing forth from the Forest Temple."

But when Sheik opened his eyes, he saw that the young hero had already started running out of the Temple of Time, dashing across the pure white, marble tiles and toward the far door.

"Prepare yourself," he whispered as Link flung himself through the doors of the Temple. "This land is not the one you left behind as a boy . . . ."

* * *

Intellectually, Link had known that Hyrule's capital had been besieged and was being destroyed when he had left, and barring extraordinary circumstances, that wasn't likely to have changed after seven years. That didn't prepare him for what he saw as he stepped out of the Temple of Time. 

The sky over the city was overcast, with dark, ominous clouds swirling over the ruined city in unnatural patterns, like a landlocked hurricane. Biting winds ripped through the ruins, assailing the man's ears as Link walked out of the Temple, his mouth dropping as he looked over the devastation. In seven years, the grandeur of Hyrule's capital had been brutally destroyed, every building bearing scorch marks from the fires that had ravaged the city and many structures left in ruins of toppled rubble. A palpable stench of evil filled the air, and everywhere Link could feel the darkness, of the same breed that had infested the other places Ganondorf had cursed.

This city was a forsaken place, he realized.

Then his eyes turned north, toward where the proud Hyrule Castle should have stood, and Link's realization of what had befallen the city became complete. Where the white stone of the immense, mighty castle had once risen above the landscape, Link only saw a vast black monolith, a tower of heartless obsidian and granite, festooned with spikes and other unwelcoming protrusions. It radiated shadow and evil, and the black clouds overhead seemed to rotate around it, the very epicenter of the darkness Link felt in this place.

"Ganondorf," Link muttered, clenching his fists. He had no doubt that this was where the King of Evil was hiding, and though he felt a burning urge to run straight through the blasted city and assault the keep, Link kept his urges for vengeance and justice in check. Rauru's words echoed in his ears, and Link wisely turned away from the vile castle and looked back over the city. He though he caught movement, far off, and knew that though this place was no longer home for Hylians, it was likely overrun by the denizens of Ganondorf's empire.

Without another word, Link slipped off into the alleys of the destroyed city, and quietly departed the blasted lands, knowing that it was best that he not raise the ire of whatever lurked here.

* * *

The walls of the city were also badly damaged, but not as badly as the city interior. The drawbridge - the same one he'd confronted Ganondorf on seven years ago - was cracked and broken, but enough of it remained to allow him to easily cross the moat and make his way out of the city. 

Once beyond he city walls, Link felt the darkness draining away, and the black clouds overhead began to thin out. As he stumbled through low, brown knee-high grass, the darkness and evil faded into the distance, but he could still feel it, a distant echo of vile power permeating the landscape.

Half an hour out from the city gates, Link saw the grass starting to rise, a bit of green color working its way into the plants as they were far enough away to resist the enveloping evil of the fallen city. An hour later, Link stood in waist high, golden grass, just like he head first seen when he had started on his journey so long ago. Far enough away from the distant, shrouded city to relax, Link found a small grove of trees on a hilltop and settled in under their comforting, natural shade.

"This isn't the Hyrule we left behind," he muttered. There was a murmur from Navi, and he looked up, to see her hovering listlessly in the air above him. Link then realized that, as a fairy, she was likely even more sensitive to the changes in the landscape than he was. He reached up, gently touching her with one of his fingers, and she turned, looking down at him. To his surprise, she drifted down closer to Link, and settled on his shoulder; he could feel her legs and arms, hidden within the globe of light, moving around as she settled into place beside his head. She moved into the crook between his shoulder and neck and waited there for a while, not speaking.

He didn't need her to explain; she was as confused and disconcerted as he was, with the added complication of her sensitivity to the darkness that was pervading this land. He waited for a while underneath the shade of the trees, running his hands over the bark of the wood, and remembering the scents and sights of his homeland.

_Saria._ He was certain she was the girl Sheik had spoken of, and Link knew that he had to get to the Kokiri Forest as swiftly as possible. But how would they react to him? He looked down over his body, still confused at how he had become an adult, like the Hylians, when everyone else in his homeland remained as children. Maybe it was because he had left the forest? What of the other Kokiri? Would they change just as he had?

Link reached down into his pouch as he thought of this, and touched Saria's ocarina. In his hands it was tiny, barely larger than his fist. The Ocarina of Time, however, was larger, and perfectly sized for an adult, and he took it out, looking over it, before rasing it to his lips.

The song Saria had taught him slowly flowed out of the instrument, filling the air around him. Memories of the forest flooded in, the scents of wood and taste of berries, the laughter of forest children and the heat of their bonfires and joy of their festivals . . . .

But of Saria, he neither heard nor felt anything.

After an hour of resting, Link felt movement on his shoulder as Navi finally stirred, and lifted off from his shoulder.

"You okay now?" he asked, and she bobbed slowly.

"The further we get from that city the better," she replied, and he nodded. He glanced back at the ruins of Hyrule, and for the first time he worried about what had happened to Zelda. Had she escaped Ganondorf? He knew the Gerudo had lost her when he had confronted the sorcerer on the bridge, but had he delayed Ganondorf long enough to let her escape? And if they did escape, where was she now?

Too many questions, he realized with a sigh as he stood. He needed to find some answers. But first he had to help his friends in his homeland . . . and to do that he would need to return to his homeland, which meant a long walk was ahead of him.

* * *

The grassy plains rolled past for the better part of the remainder of the day, and Link remembered that it had taken at least a day's walk to get from the edges of his homeland to Hyrule Castle, and that was with the help of Talon's cart and horses. On foot the going was a lot slower and harder, but his muscles had not atrophied while he'd been sealed away in time, and Rauru's light had strengthened him further. With Navi by his side, Link made good time. 

The sun was setting in the distance, and Link suspected that he was getting within a few miles of his homeland when he heard distant rumbles that reminded him of the horses at Lon Lon Ranch, only very far away. He slowed, and glanced up to Navi.

"Can you take a look?" he asked, and she bobbed once, slowly, and he wondered if she'd fully recovered from being bathed in the evil of the ruined city. Still, Navi ascended into the sky a moment later, and flew off in the general direction of the noise, before quickly returning.

"Bokoblins," she said, her voice filled with alarm. "Riding giant boar mounts, and heading this way!" Link's eyes widened, and his hand went to his sword. Bokoblins were a minor menace in Hyrule, and had rarely shown their faces in the forests, but the Deku Tree had warned the Kokiri that the creatures were dangerous and not to be underestimated. With the fall of Hyrule, and the rise of Ganondorf, Link had no doubt that these creatures were appearing in force, and probably part of Ganondorf's army as well.

"Which way?" he asked, looking in the direction of the rumbles, which were coming from the west.

"That way," Navi said, agreeing with the swordsman's keen ears, and he turned to face to the west. Over a hill in tht direction, he spotted a blur oof darkness, which swiftly resolved itself into a dozen individual shapes. As they drew closer, link could pick out the details: green-skinned, thin humanoids clad in dirty leather armor and clothing, riding massive boar-like creatures half again as tall as Link, and outweighing even immense Hylian warhorses. He could hear their whoops as they rode straight toward him, and he narrowed his eyes.

"They're way too focused to have found us by chance," he muttered, and Navi bobbed in agreement. "Okay, we can't hide, if they're tracking us they'll find us eventually." Link quietly cursed his new size; though he was now stronger and could wield the Master Sword, it made it harder for him to use his Kokirish skills at hiding and stealth.

"We'll have to do this the hard way," he added, and looked to his new sword, and his own reflection in the metallic sheen. He looked back at the oncoming horde, now much closer, and slid into a crouch. Navi floated beside him, ready to serve as his second set of eyes.

The rumbling intensified as the dozen beasts closed in, their riders howling with savage glee, waving their axes and swords in the air. Link clenched the Master Sword tightly in his left hand, watching their formation, or what little formation the wild riders had. Their war boars snorted and grunted as they thundered toward the swordsman, gathered in a loose, disorganized battle line.

For a moment, Link closed his eyes, and his sword began to glow with a faint blue light as his inner spirit shifted and changed to his will. The Master Sword seemed to react to this in a positive way, welcoming and intensifying Link's power with its own inner light, and as the monstrous riders drew closer, it intensified to a furious red glow.

Link could see the Bokoblins' eyes, their jaws opening in satisfaction as they descended toward the swordsman, heedless of his gleaming blade. The center of their line was but a heartbeat away from burying Link where he stood-

-and the fiery light was unleashed, a shockwave of _chi_ that hammered the closest quartet of Bokoblins, hurling their mounts aside and throwing their bestial riders to the grass. One of them was crushed as its boar rolled over it, and the monster vanished in a gout of black flame and swirling ash.

The other riders circled, shouting and howling in their guttural tongues as they tried to realize what happened. One of the dismounted monsters stood, and Link was upon it, the Master sword slicing down through its chest. Link felt a rush of power flow through him, of righteous satisfaction, and as he whirled and parried a sword blow from another dismounted rider, he realized that it was the Master Sword itself that gave him that feeling. The weapon itself seemed to hunger to strike down evil, and Link was happy to oblige.

An azure burst of light struck the Bokoblin before Link as the blades met, and the creature reeled backward, Navi's glow disorienting it. The Master Sword arced around the monster's sword and slashed across its belly, sending the creature to the ground, clutching its stomach as blackness issued forth from it. The third Bokoblin was rushing at him as the boar riders surrounding him continued circling, taking a measure of their unexpectedly effective opponent.

The Master Sword snapped up, parrying an axe blow and throwing it aside, and Link swept the blade across with a two-handed swing. The beast raised its axe to block the attack, but to Link's amazement the holy blade cleaved straight through the wooden haft and into the monster's torso, a trail of dark flame chasing the blade.

He whirled as ash rise up into the air, and saw the boar riders edging closer. One spurred its mount forward with a howl, and closed in. Link dropped to a crouch and rolled to the monster's left, and as he came up the Master Sword slashed out, taking the boar in the front left leg. The divine blade cut clean through the mount's leg, and both beast and Bokoblin went tumbling down in a tangle.

"Behind you!" Navi called, and Link whirled, leaping up onto one of the sprawled mounts as another rider came in at his backside. The Master Sword flew across, parrying the rider's sword, and cut back and down, severing the Bokoblin's sword arm at the bicep. It howled as the arm flew away, burning and dissolving, and Link leapt down as another rider tried to decapitate him. The holy sword in his hand slashed up as he hit the grass, taking the passing boar in the flank and driving it off.

The fifth dismounted rider was standing up from his dismembered beast and ran at Link. Without pausing, the swordsman snatched his boomerang up and sent it flying, the weapon smashing into the Bokoblin's head and sending it sprawling, stunned. Link didn't see it fall, instead spinning at another call from Navi. He leapt straight up as another boar rider tried to run him down, and planted his feet on the mount's head. Before the rider could react, the Master Sword stabbed ahead into its throat, and Link rolled off his unstable footing. Ash filled the air, and he spun, his right hand shooting up and catching the returning boomerang.

Link spun again, flinging the boomerang as he did so, and it swooped toward another rider closing in. Link continued turning, the Master Sword flying up and parrying a passing sword swing. The divine sword swept low, cleaving through the rider's leg and sending the creature to the ground, howling in agony. The boomerang was returning, having thrown another Bokoblin off its mount, and Link raised his hand to grab it.

Then he was flying through the air, his right side belatedly crying out in agony, before he crashed back down to the earth. He rolled along, hearing Navi's cries of shack and fear, and saw blood running in the grass as he rolled. A moment later, he became aware of a large gash in his side, and part of his mind made the cold, analytical realization that he had been sideswiped by another boar rider in the confusion.

The ground shook, and the swordsman started to roll over, his head swimming from the pain and the impact, and he saw one of the boar riders closing in, howling in victory.

The howl doubled over, and then tripled, and then quadrupled, and Link started to rise, knowing he couldn't give up yet, that he had to fight, no matter how many of these boar riders he was really facing.

Then the boar rider suddenly veered off as the ground rumbled, and more screams and shouts filled the air, but of a different pitch, and yelling something he had never expected to hear.

"_For Hyrule!"_

Something cut past, a equine shape, with a lance in hand, and he realized it was a _horse_, with a _Hylian_ rider holding a long lance, which promptly skewered the boar rider that had tried to bury Link.

The shout echoed over and over, and more of the Hylian riders, nearly two dozen he surmised, swarmed around him, slamming into the few surviving boar riders and running them down under a storm of lances, swords, and spears.

Then the ground rushed up to swallow Link, darkness claiming him.

* * *

"Captain," called Elevan, the rancher that had joined the company two months previously. 

The leader of the group, indistinguishable from the rest of the raiding band, looked over, and brought his horse around. The rancher, along with two more of the raiders, were crouched around a fallen figure, a young man clad in battered, ragged green clothes. Elevan was wrapping bandages around the battered swordsman's waist, where he had been gashed and stabbed by one of the cursed Bokoblins.

"Who is this?" he asked, and dismounted, walking over to crouch beside the warrior.

"Whoever he was, he killed over half of them before we got here," replied Toba, one of the militia who had once patrolled the southern regions of Eldin. The captain suppressed a whistle, and looked up as one of his men called him over. He stood up and jogged over to the man, who was reaching for something in the grass.

"I believe this is his sw-" The rest of the sentence ended in a cry of agony, and the man fell backward, clutching his hand and looking down at the ground in shock. The captain ran over to where he stood, and stopped as he looked down at what lay on the ground.

"Impossible," he whispered after a second, crouching, but he did not reach down to touch the sword. He stared at the blade incredulously, not believing what he was seeing.

"The Master Sword." He looked back, across the grass to where the raiders were patching up the brave, lone swordsman, and then back to the weapon.

"What does it mean?" Toba asked, and before the captain could reply, he heard a voice overhead.

"It means you're not meant to use it," spoke the glowing ball of blue light, gossamer wings gently flapping out behind it. The two Hylians stared, dumbfounded, for they had never seen a fairy in person before.

"Who is he?" the captain asked, nodding toward the sprawled warrior.

"I'll tell you if you help him," Navi replied, and the captain nodded.

"We were already planning to do that," he replied, and looked down at the blade, pondering how they were going to get both the sword and its fearless and ferocious wielder to safety.

And he also remembered what he'd been told to keep an eye out for: _a blond boy in green, wielding the Master Sword and with a fairy companion._

For according to the Princess, they were to be the last hope for Hyrule.

* * *

-

* * *

Ooooh, a twist that wasn't in the game! I will warn readers that ther will be several elements in the Adult Link saga that were _not_ in the game, including a couple of big elements which, in my opinion, will make this story very interesting. My only hints will be that we'll be seeing a lot more out of the Gorons, there'll be quite a bit of Sheikah action going on, and there's going to be a very stubborn, recurring opponent for Link for much of the rest of this story... 

This chapter came out quickly, mostly because of its size; I originally intended for it to be a bit longer, but held off on what was going to happen after the raiders save Link for the next chapter. I will say that the next chapter will have a very familiar location that wasn't in Ocarina, and there's going to be some complications in getting to the Lost Woods and the Forest Temple. Expect the next chapter to be long, so don't expect it to go up for a while. My schedule is hectic right now.

As you may have noticed, Link is keeping all the gear he had as a child, including the boomerang and Kokiri Sword. He hasn't gotten his Hylian shield yet, but its only a matter of time before a big, solid metal shield starts bashing in monstrous faces...

Until next chapter...


	13. Chapter XII: Black Forest

_**Chapter XII: Black Forest**_

_Heavy._

That was his first thought as he began to creep his way back to consciousness. Everything was heavy, his body feeling sluggish and slow to respond, his eyelids remaining closed at first and resisting his efforts to open them. There was warmth and softness, clinging to him as he tried to wake, and the insidious comfort made it even harder to fight the urge to settle back down and let himself drift off. It was like he was home again, in his bed, the past weeks vanishing.

Then he remembered what home was like, and he remembered his father, and his friends, and-

"_Saria . . . ."_

His eyes shot open, and Link started trying to sit up, only to feel burning agony shoot through his flank, and he immediately flopped back down onto the bed, groaning. Bright light struck his eyes, and he raised a heavy, sluggish hand to block out the rays, only then realizing that he was stripped down to his waist. He lay beneath light, soft sheets, inside a wooden house of some kind, and the scents surrounding the swordsman told him he was nowhere near a city. He could smell the soft earth and the tingle of nature in the air, and realized he was close to a forest.

"Link!" called a voice, and he looked up, to see Navi's comforting azure glow overhead. He relaxed, for he could sense that she was at ease as well.

"What happened?" he groaned, and was surprised for a moment at the depths of his voice, before remembering that he was no longer a boy. He looked around the interior of the house again, and sniffed the air once more as his hands probed his aching side. Bandages had been wrapped around his flank, and a quick inspection showed the wrappings were clean and fresh.

"You weren't watching your back, that's what," she replied, dropping down onto his chest. He could tell her eyes were boring into him with angry relief, even though they were masked behind her glow.

"I thought that was your job," he replied, settling his head back on the pillow.

"Well, since you never listen to me much in the first place," she responded, "I'm amazed I've been able to save your rear this many times." Link chuckled, and Navi had to take to the air as his chest shook with laughter. He glanced around the room again.

"Where are we?"

"A little village called Ordon," came the reply from the room's entrance, and Link looked up. A man in his thirties stepped into the room, a short brown beard across his weathered features and corded muscles wreathing his frame. A short sword was strapped to his side, and Link saw he walked comfortably with the weapon. He was clad in a brown tunic, breeches, and cloak, and all of his gear wore a battered, worn look that matched its wearer. The man crossed the room, and glanced over Link, before nodding.

"You're recovering well," he remarked. "Faster than I expected."

"Thanks," the swordsman replied. "You were . . . with the riders that rescued me, weren't you?"

"I am their leader, yes," the man said with a smile, and he sat down in a chair beside Link as the blond man sat up, this time more carefully. The rider extended his hand, and Link shook it, noting the strong grip.

"Captain Mica," he said. "Hylian Royal Guard. Well, former. There isn't much of a Hyrule or a Royal Family to guard anymore." The blond nodded.

"I'm Link," he replied, and glanced at his companion. "You've already met Navi?" Mica nodded as the fairy sat down on the edge of a table.

"Not very many people travel around Hyrule with a fairy companion," the captain remarked. "And very few swordsmen can take on a dozen of Ganondorf's patrolling Bokoblin riders and get away with killing more than half of their number."

"I didn't think I did that good," the blond replied, grinning, and Mica chuckled.

"Well, it certainly helps that you are . . . well, _you._" Link gave Mica a puzzled look, and the man gestured across the room, to where several of Link's belongings were piled neatly on a table. His tunic and the new breeches and shirt, his pouches and gear, and beside them, in its immaculate blue and gold sheath, the Master Sword.

"Very few people have possess the right and the blessings to wield that sword," Mica said, standing and walking across the room toward the table. He looked over the blade, but did not touch it. "We had a devil of a time trying to secure the weapon, as every one of my men to touch it was knocked off his feet. None of us were blessed or had pure enough hearts to hold it."

"I helped them out," Navi added from her spot across the room. "They couldn't touch it, so we had to wrap your hands around the handle so we could get it into its sheath." Link managed a laugh at the image, and the shrugged.

"Sorry for the trouble," he offered, to which Mica waved a dismissing hand.

"For the Hero of Time, it was nothing," he said, and the blond man blinked in surprise at the title.

"You . . . you know?" he asked, and the captain nodded.

"Princess Zelda has kept us well-informed after the fall of the city," he replied, and the name sent a jolt through the swordsman.

"Zelda?" he asked, leaning forward, his eyes widening with surprise and hope. "She's alive?"

"Last we've heard," replied Mica. "It has been months since our last communiqué with her." He shook his head as he sat back down in his chair.

"Is she okay?" Link asked, to which Mica shrugged.

"She's secretive," he replied. "And understandably so. Ganondorf has been hunting her for seven years, since the day the castle fell, and Hyrule ceased to exist as a nation." Link was silent, and let him continue to explain. "We haven't seen her in the flesh in years. She communicates through letters, delivered secretively to each of the different groups scattered across Hyrule. We don't know how she moves about, or how she gets them to us, but they turn up where we least expect them to."

Link nodded, and then caught something that Mica had said.

"Groups?" he asked. "Are there others like you?" Mica nodded, scratching his beard.

"When Hyrule fell, the army and the militia scattered," he replied. "Many of those in the city didn't make it out, but we had large numbers of militia and soldiers stationed in other fortresses and posts across the country. Ganondorf went for these later on, after he had taken the capital, but by that time we had abandoned them." He gestured around the room.

"Those of us who remained scattered and took refuge. We hid, for it was the only way to survive in the wake of the fall. There aren't a large number who remain active, as most of us have to stay hidden just to avoid being hunted down. Ganondorf keeps most of his army in the keep and the ruins of the capital, but patrols like the one you encountered are commonplace. My group is still active."

"It's a good thing for us that you were," Link said with a chuckle, and Mica joined him in laughing.

"We were hunting the band that was chasing you, actually," he explained. "We spotted them veering off from their usual patrol, and we followed. By the time we saw that they were attacking _you_, you'd already killed half of them and were riding one boar's face and stabbing its rider. Either you were crazy or you were desperate."

"Little of both," Link replied, and Navi scoffed.

"Lots of the first and way too much of the second, more like it," she added. Mica chuckled again.

"We can't do much other than hit and run raids on camps and patrols," he explained. "There's only a few dozen of us, and half of the raiding party is made up of farmers and ranchers from here."

"Ordon," Link said, repeating the village's name, and Mica nodded.

"Little place, out of the way. Far south of the capital, and hidden by chasms and forests. Peaceful place, on the very edge of Hyrule's borders. Ganondorf's never even sent his riders here to harass anyone or gather tithes."

Link sniffed the air. That was why the place smelled familiar. He wasn't that far from his homeland . . . .

Link threw off the bedsheets, and Mica frowned in surprise as he stood up.

"You should be resting, Link," he remarked as the swordsman walked across the room and grabbed his clothes.

"I'm too close now," he replied, shaking his head as he put on his white tunic.

"Too close to where?" the Hylian asked, standing.

"Home," Link replied, and Navi drifted close to the swordsman as he donned his green tunic.

"I see," Mica said, nodding. "Your friend told me of where you were headed." Link grunted as he put on his long, floppy hat and started gathering his gear. Several moments passed, and then the swordsman realized he was alone, Mica having stepped out of the room. He frowned, but said nothing as he put his gear back in place, strapping his bombs, boomerang, and Kokiri Sword to his waist. He had finished sliding the Master Sword's scabbard over his back and was tightening the baldric's straps when he heard the captain return. Link glanced up, and saw the Hylian was carrying a roll of parchment and another odd object.

"You're far to impetuous," Mica said, with a smile. "Reminds me of my younger days. If you're headed for the Kokiri Forest, you may need these things." He held out the parchment, and Link took it, glancing it over, and realized it was a map of the nearby area.

"The quickest way to reach your homeland is here," Mica said, tracing a line to the west. "Head north of the village, past the Ordon spring and through the Faron Woods. Keep heading northwest, but be careful, athe going isn't going to be easy. There's a deep chasm that separates Faron from the Kokiri Forest." Link nodded, remembering the eastern edges of the Lost Woods being blocked off by deep ravines.

Mica held out the object in his hands, what looked like a long cylinder with a handle on one end, and a three-bladed grasping claw on the other end.

"You'll need this," he explained. "A clawshot. It's a clever little device; squeeze the handle here, at the top, and it fires these claws, attached to a long chain, that latches onto an object. Then, you can release the trigger to pull yourself toward it, or it toward you, depending on how secure the object is." Link frowned as he hefted the odd machine, not particularly familiar with Hylian engineering. He held the clawshot like it was made of poisonous insects.

"Relax, its not going to bite you," Mica said with a smile. "Unless you point it the wrong way."

After adding the strange device to his gear, Link started toward the door, but then paused. He looked back to Mica, and slowly extended his hand. The Hylian soldier took it in his own, and they shook.

"Thank you," the swordsman offered, to which Mica shrugged.

"Princess' orders," he replied with a smile.

* * *

It was low and potent, a rumbling, echoing and resounding testament to power. The sound reverberated throughout the keep, each note and tone a testament to the will of the one who ruled the land. Like him, the music was strong, fueled by magic and divine power, and spread outward like the immense arcane might he carried within him. The organ's pipes shuddered with each note as large fingers danced over the ivory keys, the song one with no true meaning beyond that which the player gave it. 

It continued throughout the long hours, never ending, and the denizens of the keep found themselves most intrigued by the change from the way their master usually played. While hearing the thunderous, mournful calls of the organ was not uncommon, they had never heard him playing for such a prolonged period, as if he was lost in the very arcane music he was weaving.

But then, the song suddenly ended, and high atop his tower, the musician straightened, his fingers moving away from the keys. He turned his gaze around, peering across the chamber, lit in a subtle, amber light, and his eyes fell on the lithe female standing behind him, the doors to his chambers closing behind her silently. The Gerudo slowly lowered herself to one knee before his might, and after a moment, he grunted.

"Rise," Ganondorf stated, and she stood, keeping her eyes respectfully low. "What have you found?"

She hesitated before speaking, awed by the power in his voice, and that amused him. The reverberations of his words echoed across the room, fueled by the power seething through this chamber; any who stood before him tended to quail at the strength he held, even the hags that had raised him . . . .

"My King," she said after recovering from her surprise. "We have found the patrol you dispatched yesterday to locate the strange swordsman."

"And?" he asked, rising to his feet, the embroidered cape on his back billowing out behind him.

"We found nothing but broken weapons and dead boars," she reported, and he growled quietly, his anger flaring at the news. The messenger recoiled, for she could feel the dark atmosphere of the chamber reacting to his emotions. It quieted a moment later as he calmed himself, and nodded.

"Then my suspicions were true," he whispered, and gestured dismissively. The Gerudo spy bowed quickly and departed, glad to be gone from the dangerous presence of the King of Evil. Ganondorf watched her leave, and then turned, walking across his chamber. He raised a hand, and the wall shifted, the stone phasing into glass and transforming into a window that looked to the south.

"The forest boy with the fairy companion has returned," he muttered, nodding to himself as he spoke. "And there is no doubt he carries the Master Sword." He clenched his right hand, and looked down, seeing the glow wreathing the back of his hand. A dark smile spread across Ganondorf's features, and he chuckled, the light in the chamber flickering with each laugh.

He whipped around, his cape flying out behind him, and the sorcerer raised his hands. The air twisted and bent as he worked his magic, and in the center of the room, a portal of black energy swirled into existence, teeming with crackling lightning and roaring winds. A face became visible in the portal, a familiar one.

"_Master Ganondorf,"_ a voice slid into the room like a submissive serpent. _"What use do you have for me?"_

"The Forest Temple is in danger," the King of Evil replied. "The Master Sword has finally returned to Hyrule, and threatens our plans." Silence returned from the portal as his servant considered the implications of that bit of news.

"Prepare the Temple to welcome this 'hero'," Ganondorf continued. "And when you have slain him, shatter that cursed sword and scatter the pieces. I will have none of these 'chosen' children trying to threaten my power again."

"_As you will, Master,"_ the spirit replied, and the portal closed. Ganondorf peered back across the room, out the window of his castle, and with a gesture, the glass returned to stone. The amber light darkened as he walked back across the room and settled into his chair, his fingers placing themselves over the keys once more. He paused, considering what to play next, before finally settling on an appropriate style.

"A dirge," he mused, his fingers depressing the keys, and the booming, ominous echo of the organ filled the castle once more. "A funeral march for the fools who would believe they can stand against me . . . ."

* * *

"Mica wasn't joking," Link muttered as he stood on the precipice, Navi hovering at his shoulder. He looked down at the chasm that separated Faron Woods from the fog-shrouded region beyond. A deep gray mist filled the air in the ravine, with thick tree roots growing around both the near cliff face and the far one. Some of the trees were immense, the roots as wide around as he was tall. The whole area teemed with life and the ancient growth and presence of the forest; it was almost the same as being in the Great Deku Tree's meadow. 

Faron Woods itself struck him as being similar to his homeland. When he'd departed Ordon, it had been in a hurry, the need to get to Saria overriding his innate curiosity; he'd barely noticed the farmsteads and houses and the curious people as he left the village and forged his way into the woods. Though he had never set foot in Faron, being back under the boughs and leaves once again relaxed the swordsman, and he slipped through the woods with familiar ease. Even his changed form did little to hamper his movement, and Link found himself cutting through the forest even faster in his adult body than he did when he was a small Kokiri.

"Okay," he said, looking across the chasm and taking the clawshot in hand. He raised the device, gripping it carefully, his fingers resting uneasily upon the trigger inside. Peering out through the mists, he sighted one of the roots growing out from his side of the canyon, huge and wide enough for him to stand on, and offering a spot that would let him cross the chasm more easily.

He squeezed the trigger slightly, and felt the clawshot click, and with the hiss of sliding metal gears, the talons popped open, ready for him to fire. He carefully sighted where he wanted the hook to land, right over the root, and released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

Link squeezed the trigger, and the device kicked, the chain and the claw lancing out, a metallic thunderbolt that hit the top of the root hard. The claws snapped closed, and held fast-

-and Link went flying, managing to let out a cry of shock as he was yanked forward, the chain immediately retracting and pulling him in hard. His feet left the ground, and for a moment the swordsman was airborne, a flutter of fear hitting him as he saw the tree root closing at speeds well in excess of fast. He twisted around in the single second he had, putting his legs underneath him, and his boots hit the wood as he reached the end of the chain.

Link stood there for a moment, breathless, amazed at the strength of the grappling hook and his brief flight. He slowly spread his stance, balancing himself on the tree root, and his fingers unclenched. The device clicked, and the metal claws opened enough to let him extract them from the bark.

"Whoa," he managed, and looked over his new tool with amazement.

"That was . . . ." Navi began.

"That was fun," Link said with a grin, and looked up at the chasm across the way. "Let's do that again!"

The clawshot flew out, latching onto another tree root across the chasm, and Link let it pull him forward, reveling in the wind blowing against his face as he shot across the ravine, a cheer escaping from him as he flew. He hit the opposite side of the cliff, and caught a whiff of the ancient forest scents as he planted his feet against the roots. Looking up, Link saw another, much smaller root high up on the cliff face, near the edge of the precipice, and he raised the clawshot. It clanked and slid open, the chain flying out once again and closing around the smaller root. Once more, Link shot up into the air, and planted his boots against the cliff face as he reached the root. His right hand rose and grasped the root as he looked for another target up above, among the branches of the trees growing up along the cliff.

His keen ears caught the sounds of crumbling dirt an instant before the root started to shift with his weight, and Link suddenly realized that he'd grabbed something far too heavy to hold him and his gear. A flash of panic filled him as the root tore free, and he looked up, seeking another target for his clawshot.

The root broke free of the side of the cliff, and Link fell backward, his free hand scrabbling for a hold as he lost his grip on the plant. In an instant, he was falling down the side of the cliff, Navi screaming his name as he fired the clawshot. The chain lanced out, bouncing off the rock and dirt and failing to find purchase.

Pure instinct took over at hat moment, as he started to fall into the misty depths, and his right hand shot down to his belt. Navi dove after Link, and she heard a harsh _crack_ of metal on stone, and an instant later she found Link, hanging by his right hand, his exposed fingers white as they wrapped around the handle of the Kokiri Sword, the tiny blade driven into the side of the cliff face and stopping his descent cold.

He peered down into the misty depths he had nearly plunged into, and then up to his partner as she hovered overhead, trembling with relief after the heart-stopping moment of terror. With a grunt, Link raised the clawshot, looking for a more secure target, and ignored the shaking in his hand as he searched.

Two minutes later, the clawshot lanced over the rim of the cliff, caught a branch, and hauled the swordsman up over the side of the ravine, and Link's boots touched down amidst the deep, thick grass that lined the floor of the Lost Woods.

After seven long, dark years, Link had returned home.

* * *

Darkness hung in the air, and the Lost Woods, once a shadowy but magical place of deep mist and glittering forest sprites, seemed both empty and lurking, a malevolence drifting among the slight breeze. Link found his left hand rising to his shoulder as he moved along the forest floor, instinctively sliding into a balanced combat crouch, his eyes becoming wary and alert. Though he knew that this was the wood he had grown up in his whole life, Link felt like a stranger, and not simply because of his size. It was as if the woods themselves had forgotten him, the scents and sounds twisted and perverted, the trees exuding malevolence and evil. 

"This is what Rauru meant," Link whispered, and Navi bobbed.

"Evil," she murmured. "Evil has filled the Lost Woods." Her voice carried both astonishment and anger, both of which were emotions Link felt himself. The forest had been draped in Ganondorf's malevolent shadow, transformed into something foreboding and alien.

"We have to save these woods," Link stated firmly, and Navi agreed with him as he moved forward, his eyes open and ready for any danger.

He had once known these woods almost perfectly, able to tell where he was simply by reading his surroundings, but seven years of slumber had changed the forest, and the telltale signs Link had followed before were now useless. Even worse, the palpable feeling of evil flowing throughout these woods was disorienting, affecting his senses and ruining his perceptions. The Lost Woods had always held a subtle current of potent magic, that had affected all of its inhabitants, and Link had lived with it so long he had grown accustomed to the magic. Now, with the forest corrupted by Ganondorf's evil, the environment had changed and it was further disturbing Link's senses.

The result was that, after nearly two hours of moving throughout the forest and using every bit of knowledge and skill he had developed living in the Kokiri Forest, Link found himself completely lost.

"Never thought I'd get lost in the Lost Woods," he muttered, sitting down on a man-sized tree root. He looked up at Navi, but knew she wouldn't be of any assistance; she was just as confused and disoriented as he was, considering how immersed they were in evil energy. It seemed as if she was experiencing the same thing she'd felt when they'd fled Hyrule's capital.

Link looked around the woods, trying to find any indication of where they were. The mists flowing among the trees were dark and foreboding, though, and the sprites that had flowed through the trees seemed distant, almost as if they were deliberately avoiding the pair. Sunlight poked down through the few gaps in the leafy canopy overhead, but the shafts were muted and swallowed up by the shadows of the forest. Twisting roots rose from dark dirt, the ancient trees seeming to be distorted by the evil that flowed from the depths of the wood.

Link was silent for a long while as he absorbed his surroundings, and then closed his eyes. He reached down into his pocket, and took the Ocarina of Time in hand.

"What are you doing, Link?" Navi asked, curious, and he opened his eyes, looking around the forest, before raising the Ocarina to his lips.

His fingers moved as he remembered the song Saria had taught him, the song of the forest, and it flowed from the mystical instrument, the melody caught by the breeze passing between the boughs and tree trunks. The music was scattered into the air, spreading throughout the woods, the forest touched once again by the song Saria had crafted to reflect the very essence of life and the Kokiri people who dwelled within.

* * *

Deep within the woods, a pair of eyes opened. 

An old tree stump sat in the middle of a small clearing, the towering plant broken long ago by a thunderstorm that had passed overhead, sending down mighty bolts of lightning that had shattered the giants of the wood. The stump was rotted and slowly breaking down, covered by moss and mushrooms as the Lost Woods reclaimed the mighty, fallen oak with the steady, unstoppable cycle of life. Over the course of its existence, the stump had been home to a family of foxes, a colony of termites, and a host of small forest creatures that had slept in it overnight. Today, however, the stump had a different tenant, one that had remained asleep for a long time - several years, in fact, driven into a deep slumber caused by the death of the great wood's guardian spirit and the prevalence of evil.

He climbed out of the tree stump, shaking off the lethargy of hibernation, and scented the woods once more. He would have frowned, if he could have, but such Kokiri-like expressions were not possible, so instead he looked around, feeling the darkness that was enveloping his home.

The echoes of distant music touched him again, and he turned, spreading his senses out, using his magic to feel the forest and find where the strange - but familiar - music was coming from. The notes flowed through his body, touching something deep in his heart, reminding him of the way the forest had lived before the darkness had flowed out of the Forest Temple, driving him into his restless sleep.

There was a quality to the notes that he couldn't identify, a strength and power that was not part of the song itself, but carried in the melody, as if weaved into the song at the source of the music. Curious, he turned around and reached into the stump, taking the conical cap inside and setting it on his head. He rummaged around in his home for a moment, and found his pipe of reeds and leaves. He touched it to his lips and blew a few notes, satisfied that its magic was still in place, and then took out his last possession: a ceramic lantern. With a single toot on his leaf pipe, the torch lit up, casting golden firelight across the clearing.

He turned, laughing at the prospect of play and fun, and scrambled off into the woods, echoing the forest's song on his pipe as he walked through the corrupted forest, which seemed a little brighter now.

* * *

"Hold it."

Link paused at Navi's words, and he looked up at his companion, who peered about, distracted.

"What is it?" he asked, lowering the Ocarina.

"Do you . . . hear something? It sounds like music, coming from somewhere else in the forest." Link was silent for a moment, listening intently, and then, a faint sound tickled his hearing. For a moment, he thought is was an echo of his own song, but then he recognized the distinct color of the notes, as if they came from a flute or pipe.

The swordsman shot to his feet, for he recognized this particular type of pipe, and he started dashing through the underbrush, Navi chasing behind him.

"Link! Where are you-"

"Those are Skull Kid pipes!" Link called back, a smile on his face. He looked around the woods as he ran, deftly leaping over tree roots and around bushes, and in the distance, he spotted the glittering light of a lantern amidst the trees.

Link had heard the sound and seen the creatures before in his younger days, as he had roamed the Lost Woods. The Skull Kids were elusive creatures, said to be similar to the Kokiri in many respects, but far more in tune with the woods, and served as guardian spirits of the woods. They were strange, playful things, and had been friends and allies of the Kokiri, but were fickle and not terribly trustworthy. The Great Deku Tree had likened them to thunderstorms in their predictability and reliability.

Within a few moments, Link drew close to the light and the intensity of the song, matching his but different in subtle ways. He looked up into the trees, and high in the branches of an old oak tree, he could see a figure standing on a bough. A long pipe of bark and waving leaves was in its hand as it danced wildly, with a wide-brimmed cap and brown clothes made of woven leaves. Its body seemed to have been crafted and carved from tree bark, with the texture of old, dried wood.

After a few more seconds of playing, the creature looked down at Link, and paused in its song. A thin, reedy and echoing laughter filled the air, and the creature vanished, its body disappearing in a swirl of leaves. The air shifted around Link, and the creature reappeared on a tree stump just beside the swordsman, peering over him with curious eyes. This close, Link could see the creature's facial features, buried in the bark of its face, including beady red eyes peering beneath the brim of the cap. It was small, barely taller than a normal Kokiri, though the pointed cap nose up to Link's chin.

"You're new," remarked the Skull Kid, its voice quiet and reedy, as if the grass itself had just spoken to him. The red eyes looked him over, and Link could hear several sharp inhalations. "You dress like a Kokiri, but you smell like an outsider. What's a grown up doing dressed like that?"

"I _am_ a Kokiri," Link replied, to which the Skull Kid burst out laughing. Leaves swirled around the creature, and amidst the tumult, it vanished, before reappearing on a bough just over Link's head.

"Kokiri never grow up!" the Skull Kid replied, and Link spun around, looking up toward the forest spirit. "Not even if they leave the forest! You're not a Kokiri!"

"Shut up!" Link growled, getting angry. He knew Skull Kids sometimes liked to play mean tricks, but this one was reminding him of Mido far too much. He reached up and grabbed his sword's handle, and the Skull Kid froze. The red eyes flicked over the handle, and then it looked back down at Link, silent for a long moment, as still as the tree it stood in.

"You're looking for the Forest Temple, aren't you?" it asked, and Link frowned, for the creature's voice was now sounding serious, lacking the laughing quality it had before.

"Yeah," Link replied, and the Skull Kid was silent for a long moment, before nodding.

"You're Link, aren't you?" it asked, and the swordsman jerked in surprise, amazed that the spirit knew his name.

"You know my name?" he asked, and it nodded, a smile stretching across its wooden features.

"Saria wants us to keep an eye out for you," it replied, and leaves rippled about its body again, before the Skull Kid reappeared in front of him.

"This way!" Then it vanished again, appearing among the branches, and began to leapt through the trees, its lantern the only way to track its movements.

"Saria?" Link exclaimed as he bolted after the fleeing Skull Kid. "Where is she?"

"You should know already," came the Skull Kid's voice, echoing through the trees as Link gave chase.

"The Forest Temple," Navi remarked, and Link nodded, hurrying through the forest, keeping his eyes on the lantern as the Skull Kid weaved its way through the trees. The light danced and flowed, and Link found himself scrambling over immense tree roots and crashing through low-hanging boughs, the branches seeming to be pulled down by unseen weights. With every passing moment, the sunlight streaming down through the branches continued to diminish, the plants and branches becoming more gnarled and twisted.

The oppressive weight of evil that they had sensed continued to grow, a writhing, pulsing wall of shadow and darkness that bore down on the pair. Their only guidance was that golden lantern streaming down through the trees, the Skull Kid now leaping and running through the branches, its feet touching the bark with barely a ripple of motion to indicate its presence.

As Link ran, he noticed Navi slowing down slightly, and he peered up at his partner. She was still following, but her movements were sluggish, and from the way she bobbed and turned as she flew, he got the impression that she was looking around warily.

"The forest is getting darker," she whispered. "We're getting close to the Forest Temple."

"_Hurry," _came the laughing call of the Skull Kid, and Link looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. After a few moments, a flicker of gleaming lantern light cut through the woods, and he bolted after it, Navi following an instant later.

Something bounced off the side of Link's head, and he looked up, to see _another_ glittering lantern directly overhead, the Skull Kid who had been leading them leaning down, an annoyed look on its face.

"Wrong way," it said, and pointed in another direction. "Follow me, not the others."

"Others?" Link asked, and as he looked back toward the light, he saw not just another lantern, but the distant flickers of even _more_ lamps, floating and dancing through the trees.

"The forest is singing again," the Skull Kid said, and giggled. "If you're really a Kokiri like you say you are, you'd know what's so important about that!"

The Skull Children were gathering again, Link realized. The nomadic, playful spirits were coming together from all across the forest, emerging from their slumber, but for what reason? What had caused them to awaken again so suddenly?

Link patted the front of his tunic, and at the Ocarina of Time stored within. What magic did the instrument hold beyond simply being one of the keys to the Sacred Realm? Had the song Saria had taught him been amplified somehow by the device?

His musings were interrupted by a deep rumble, and a squawk of alarm from one of the distant Skull Children. The one guiding the pair vanished, leaves swirling in his wake, and in the darkness, Link spotted shapes lurking amidst the trees, huge, hulking forms.

They were humanoid, but immense, with heavily muscled bodies covered in thin, short brown fur. Their features were bestial, with gleaming red eyes, and the monsters carried long, heavy spears that no Hylian of ordinary stature could hope to wield.

"Moblins," Link muttered, remembering the tales of the immense, heavy and extremely strong relations to the Bokoblins. The vast beasts, twice his height and four times his weight, were stomping through the woods towards him, sniffing with deep inhalations, searching the woods with their glittering red eyes.

"They're hunting," Navi whispered, and Link nodded, his hand rising to his blade.

_Hunting for us._

Link was under no illusions regarding Ganondorf's powers or his intentions; the Bokoblin riders had been set against him deliberately, and he suspected that here, in this corrupted place, these creatures had been set as guards of the Forest Temple. If Ganondorf suspected anything of Link's quest, then he would doubtless throw everything he had into stopping Link from succeeding.

The swordsman slid against the bark of a wide tree, and looked up, spying a low, thick branch. As a Kokiri, he had been an adept tree climber, and being larger simply meant he had more reach and needed larger branches to support him, which this limb looked like it would do well enough. Link sprang upward, grabbing the bough, and hauled himself up into the tree.

Moments later, the Moblins were advancing toward where he had been, their movements becoming more agitated as they caught a whiff of his scent. Their hands clenched tightly around their spears as they stomped through the underbrush, and Link tensed as they drew nearer.

He realized that there was no way they could get to the Forest Temple with these creatures hunting him, especially considering the troublesome nature of their guide. However, the battle with the Bokoblin riders had taught him caution, and Link knew that there were too many to fight in a stand-up engagement.

"Navi," he whispered, so quiet he could barely hear himself speaking. "Can you draw them out?" She bobbed, and lifted off from within his cap, flying high up into the treetops to cover up where she had come from, and then dropping down into sight of the Moblins, about twenty meters away. They looked up, spotting the fairy that seemed so far into the darker parts of the wood, and one of the beasts raised a hand. The leader, clad in a gnarled wooden helmet affixed with horns and carrying a huge club, pointed at where Navi was floating, and the Moblins began to stomp toward her. They passed beneath Link's position, and he waited for all of the group to pass, lingering until the last straggler passed beneath his branch. His fingers gripped the Master Sword's handle tightly, and he tensed himself as the final beast paused just a step away from his spot, sniffing the air.

The bough vibrated faintly as the swordsman dropped from the branch. The hiss of a drawn sword filled the tense, still woods, cutting through the silence as easily as the Master Sword's tip sliced down into the back of the Moblin's head, splitting it open and causing black fire to burst forth. The monster managed to let out a strangled howl of agony and shock before the Master Sword finished its work, slicing out the beast's back. The Moblin's kin whirled at the sound, and though Link's clothing hid him in the underbrush, the gleam of the Master Sword was visible for all to see.

With roars of fury and bloodlust, the other Moblins raised their spears, and the remaining two dozen thundered toward the swordsman. A spear hurtled past as Link scrambled away, sheathing his blade to hide its polished light. He ran through the underbrush, ducking out of sight for an instant, and leapt up, grabbing another bough and hauling himself up, his heart thumping in exhilaration as he prepared his next strike.

The Moblins rumbled through the forest, trampling bushes and saplings as they pursued, when one of them came to a halt, frowning, and reached up toward its neck. One of its compatriots noticed this, and looked back, only to cry out in alarm as it saw jetting flame from the side of the monster's throat, curling around a trio of small, slender strips of sharpened metal. The wounded beast pulled the blades free, and looked down at the needle-like darts, before the flames intensified, and after a couple of seconds, it tottered over and crashed to the dirt, its body burning up. The subsequent howl of alarm from the witnessing Moblin caused the rest of the horde to pause, confused, looking about for the unseen assailant.

Two of the beasts had paused beneath where Link was now hidden, and he took the initiative. The Master Sword flashed as he dropped, cleaving through the head of one Moblin, killing it before it even knew he was there. The blade flashed across as the swordsman hit the dirt in a low crouch, and sliced through the second Moblin's knee, hacking its leg off and sending it crashing to the ground, howling in agony. A third Moblin dashed toward the disturbance, but Link was diving beneath the beast's rising spear, his blade slashing up into its stomach and up out the creature's throat. The Moblin keeled backward, fire erupting from its fatal wound. The remaining, wounded Moblin was trying to sit up, but Link snatched the Kokiri Sword out of its scabbard at his side, whirled, and launched it. The enchanted dagger spun end over end and buried halfway to the hilt in the monster's forehead.

Then Link was running, leaping over the burning corpse and snatching the dagger from the ashen remains of its forehead. As he ran, Link felt something in the back of his mind, what seemed like an intuition of sorts, and he _felt_ Navi's warning shout before it had touched his ears.

_"Behind you! Duck!"_

Link caught the mental impression of a spear flying through the trees, and he whirled, his sword flying up. Metal rang against metal as the Master Sword impacted the spear-tip of the long weapon, and it spun away, its momentum carrying the polearm past Link. The weapon's thrower dashed toward him, roaring in hate and anger, and Link stood still, letting the beast close in. It was blinded by its rage, he realized, and he flipped the Master Sword into an overhand grip as it closed. An instant before it would have reached him and throttled him to death, Link sidestepped, spinning to his left, and stabbed out behind him with his left arm. The Moblin impaled itself on the sword, and Link continued the spin, tearing the Master Sword free and letting the stupid creature stumble to the dirt, its body turning to ash even as it fell.

He could feel the rumbling of more Moblins closing in, two attacking from multiple directions, and in the couple of second he had to react, Link raised his blade, channeling his _chi_ into the Master Sword, the divine weapon accepting the energy graciously.

A trio of Moblins were trying to circle around the wild, deadly warrior, and were raising their spears to strike when one of them tripped, something cold and metal wrapping around its leg. The others looked down, only to let out roars of agony as a quartet of metal slivers flashed through the darkness and into their eyes with pinpoint precision. They stumbled backward, dropping their spears, and as they let loose cries of confusion and agony, an unseen blade slid into their throats in rapid succession. The fallen Moblin was still trying to rise, having no idea what it was facing, when it felt a pair of slender boots on its back, an instant before a short, exceptionally sharp knife thrust into the back of its neck.

Fire and light rippled through the forest as Link whirled, his chi blasting into the oncoming Moblins. One was nearly incinerated, its skin buckling and charred from the intensity of Link's spirit, while the other was hurled off its feet. Link ran past that one, stabbing the Master Sword into its chest to finish it. Another Moblin dashed through the woods, its spear leading, and Link broke to the side, straight toward a tree. The Moblin howled in victory, readying to impale the agile swordsman, when Link leapt up at the immense trunk, planting his boots against it. He kicked off as the Moblin's spear hit the bark, and the Master Sword arced down into the top of the monster's skull before it realized what had happened.

As Link hit the dirt, he heard Navi's warning in his mind, and he whirled, the Master Sword slashing down. The blade cleaved clean through the stabbing spear of another Moblin, and the monster reeled backward as blue light filled its eyes, Navi slamming into its forehead. An instant later, the Moblin was on its knees, clutching a belly wound that retched evil magic, and Link was dashing away from the mortally wounded beast, the song of the forest filling his ears as his heart pumped. He felt his senses extending outward, encompassing all of the woods around him in that primal state, as if he could feel every plant and leaf and stem and root, every flow of wind and the very minute echoes of Saria's mystical song as it resounded off the trees amidst glittering golden torchlight.

Link didn't have time to realize how strange that light was, for the Master Sword was buried up to the hilt in another Moblin's chest, and both Saria's music and Navi's voice were filling his ears as he whirled, the blade ripping free and blasting another spear aside, before taking off an arm at the elbow and thrusting into the Moblin's throat.

The Moblins were looking about, confused and disoriented, for they had seen the torches and lanterns, dancing amidst the trees, and over the din of battle, they could hear eerie, thin and childish laughter, and see ghostly movement amidst the boughs and branches. The strange forest music filled the air, blown from dozens of reed pipes and coming from every direction.

A Moblin recoiled, howling in pain as its chest was riddled with darts, though these were wider and fatter than the metal shards that had felled the others. Even as it fell backward, the beast realized that these shards were carved from bone, not metal, and then its eyes were destroyed as another volley of the darts came from overhead.

The Master Sword cleaved off another leg, and Link whirled on a Moblin behind him. The beast was raising its spear, but paused as a pair of metal slivers stabbed into its throat. Even as it was recoiling from the attack, Link sliced out its gut. The Master Sword then flew across, deflecting a thrown spear, and the swordsman spun on the thrower, who was falling back. Link's legs pumped, and he dashed across the intervening distance, the Moblin unable to escape or even yell for aid before the Master Sword dove into its heart.

The great Moblin leading his troops tried to rally his warriors, but saw them scattered and broken amidst the chaos. The music kept playing overhead as the lanterns danced around in the trees, and bone darts whizzed and flew, stabbing into the fleeing or confused monsters. Metal slivers flashed in the darkness, stabbing into eyes and throats and knees, sending Moblins crashing to the ground, howling in pain before being suddenly silenced. And amidst the trees, the deadly, green-clad swordsman leapt out, slashing through the spear-wielding beasts like a scythe through wheat.

The club-wielding warrior spotted Link, and howled a challenge, knowing the only way to end this was to destroy the one with the Master Sword. It rushed toward the swordsman as he tore his blade from the back of a blinded Moblin, and Link turned to face the charging monster. He drew the Kokiri Sword with his right hand, and waited for the massive leader to close in, preparing to dodge and cut it down.

The Moblin stumbled, however, one leg collapsing without warning, a line of bone darts in its leg. Link saw the opening and leapt forward, the Master Sword flying up and arcing down -

- only to hit the thick wooden club as the beast parried the blow. With a snarl, the Moblin swung its arm out, launching Link backward, and it started to stand, raising its weapon.

Then it was blind, its eyes erupting in pain and black fire as more needles of metal flew into its face. Link shot to his feet and ran forward, leaping at the blinded Moblin, and the Kokiri Sword stabbed into its chest, burying deeply. Link hauled himself up one-handed as the Moblin reeled in agony, and the swordsman planted his boots against the Moblin's chest to give him the leverage he needed.

The Master Sword stabbed up into the Moblin's roaring mouth and through its brain, bursting out the top of its skull.

* * *

There was only silence after the leader had fallen. None of the other Moblins were still alive, slain by the forces lurking in the branches, leaving Link and Navi alone. 

Link panted, sitting down against a tree, and looked around the area. He could see the gleaming lanterns of what looked and sounded like dozens of Skull Kids, though where the forest spirits had come from he had no idea. There was a flicker of movement, and he looked up, to see a lithe form drop down into the grass. Blond hair and red eyes peered out of the white wrapping around his face as he strode toward the swordsman. Link wanted to be surprised at the figure's presence, but he wasn't, remembering the metal shards that had stricken more than one of his enemies.

"I thought I saw you," Link managed, with a tired smile, and Sheik nodded.

"After what had happened out in the field, I was afraid you wouldn't make it here," he remarked, and Link frowned, surprised.

"You saw that ambush?" he asked, to which Sheik shook his head.

"I heard of it, from some friends of mine," he replied. "That man who leads the troops in Ordon, Mica, I know him well. By the time I found out you had left the village, you had already passed the chasm and were wandering through the forest for hours."

"Hours?" Link asked, shaking his head.

"More like at least a day," Sheik confirmed. "Time is strange in the Lost Woods, especially for one who isn't attuned to it anymore."

"Do you know where the Forest Temple is?" Link asked, and he looked around the trees. One of the glittering lanterns was visible among the branches just overhead, the Skull Kid who had apparently led him this far sitting on a bough, watching the exchange with interest. "He seems to want to help me, but his 'help' led me right into those Moblins."

The Skull Kid's mischievous laughter echoed around the woods, and was joined by the others lurking amidst the branches.

"You grew up in this forest, didn't you?" Sheik asked, and Link nodded. "Its strange that you can't remember how to get to the Temple."

"I've changed," Link replied, looking down at the grass. "And so have these woods."

"The flow of time is always cruel," Sheik whispered, agreeing. "Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it. For you, it seems to flow so swiftly, and I hate to see such a burden put on your shoulders."

Link was silent, and looked back up at Sheik, and blinked in confusion. From _somewhere_, the Shiekah had produced a small harp, gilded in gold.

"The only thing that doesn't change are memories of younger days," the Shiekah added. "If you wish to reach the Forest Temple, there are ways to do so, and the Ocarina you carry is one of them."

Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time, and looked over it, and then back up at Sheik, awaiting an explanation. The Ocarina kept revealing stranger and stranger powers, and Link wished Zelda had told him more about the instrument when they'd first met.

"Music is an infinite language," Sheik said. "Hyrule is inextricably linked by the winds of magic, and the Ocarina of Time can manipulate those winds with the proper incantations. Listen to this song, and it will guide you through the corrupted forests to your true destination. This is the Minuet of Forest, and like the song your friend taught you so long ago, it touches at something deep within these woods that no evil can touch . . . ."

The first plucks of the harp were sharp and individual, distinct rings of vibrating string. Link listened closely to the light, quick melody, and raised his Ocarina. After a few moments, he aped the song, the whistling tones of the instrument matching Sheik's harp. Sheik continued playing, and Link followed through with the melody, and as each note left his Ocarina, he began to hear distant sounds, the buzzing of insects, the calls of birds and the growl of animals moving throughout the woods. A wind, fresh and vibrant, began to touch his skin, and his hair rustled, the tune filling him. He could feel the pulse of the forest for a heartbeat, the woods enveloping him, and as he followed the Shiekah's lead, he saw a lash of green in his mind's eye, verdant hair an a familiar, child-like face, one he hadn't seen in what felt like a lifetime.

_Saria . . . ._

The music was suddenly no longer there, and Link paused, opening his eyes, and found himself standing in a clearing, a yawning stone structure rising up before him, melded with the ageless trees at the heart of the Lost Woods. He was standing in the Sacred Forest Meadow, where he had drawn his Kokiri Sword so long ago and battled the first of Ganondorf's minions.

"She awaits you within," came Sheik's voice, beside him, and Link looked up, to see the shadowy figure at the edge of the clearing. Sheik gave Link a short, curt nod. "We'll meet again."

Then he was gone, vanishing into the woods without a sound. Link turned back toward the entrance to the Temple, and then looked up at Navi.

"You ready for this?" he asked, and she bobbed, her determination apparent in the way she moved. Link reached up to his shoulder, grasping the Master Sword's handle, and started forward, the Forest Temple riding up before him as he plunged into its depths.

_I'm coming, Saria . . . ._

* * *

-

* * *

I apologize for the length of time it took me to put this chapter out. My muse is an odd and fickle thing. 

I had an idea to include some of the locations in Twilight Princess, and TP does a great job of actually giving an approximate location of the Kokiri Forest relating to the Faron Woods. Since the Lost Woods are directly west of the Faron Woods, and the Kokiri Forest is west of the Lost Woods, it falls into place pretty well. I guess the south end of Hyrule is riddled with chasms and canyons that keep all these forests separate from one another, heh. (Seriously, Hyrule has got to be one of the most geologically active places in the universe, judging by all the cliffs and canyons and volcanos in Twilight) I'm also operating under the assumption that the building you encounter in the Lost Woods in TP is part of the Forest Temple, and _not_ the Temple of Time, and the Forest Temple in the Faron Woods is something completely different, seeing as its mostly caves and wooden structures, whereas the Ocarina Forest Temple features a lot more stonework.

Obviously, the Skull Kids in this story are a lot nicer to Link than they were in the original game, heh. I also started working in some of Sheik's weapons and gear, and I'll admit that I did rip off SSB Melee for a few of his tricks :P

Next chapter, expect some serious ghostly butt-kicking.

Until next chapter . . . .


	14. Chapter XIII: Life and Death

_**Chapter XIII: Life and Death**_

The essence of the place swept through Link and Navi as they delved into the stone passages, lined with roots and tree trunks that had seemed to grow amongst the Forest Temple . . . or the Forest Temple had been built around them. The masonry and stonework seemed to be perfectly integrated with the plants and trees sprouting around it, and Link wondered what potent magic had been used to build this place. It teemed with the spirit of life and existence, as if it was the very source of the forest itself.

However, as Link passed through the outer chambers, he found the presence of plants fading, even if the spiritual strength of this place remained. In fact, it seemed to intensify as he walked through a doorway that seemed to separate the outer, living portions of the temple with the inner construction. The pair found themselves walking down a long passage lined with shining candles, burning with magical, eternal flames, surrounded by stonework that weighed down on them with its sheer age and power, and resonated with the force of life and living energy.

Yet, there was an undercurrent of shadow amidst the sense of life and power, and the candles barely lit anything around their immediate area. Link walked cautiously, his hand on the Master Sword as he advanced, Navi hanging close to his side. They reached the end of the corridor and opened a wooden door, which opened into a vast central chamber.

The room was lit by a quartet of torches, set around a platform in the center of the chamber. None of them glowed with the normal yellow or orange color Link expected; one shone red, another a pale green, a third blue, and the last a deep purple. Doorways and passages led out of the chamber in all direction, but all of them were shrouded in shadow, and an oppressive gloom hung over the entire chamber, an almost palpable sense of malevolence and evil. At the center of the room, Link saw a single diminutive figure pacing in the center of the torchlight, peering around the chamber restlessly, tapping his booted feet impatiently whenever he paused.

"Mido?" Link said, hurrying up toward the Kokiri, his confusion and curiosity dominating at that moment, despite his concern for Saria. The last person he would have expected to see here was the old Kokiri boss, who he last remembered cursing him as a murderer as Link had stormed out of his home.

The Kokiri looked up and frowned as he saw the older Link approaching, and his scowl deepened. It took the swordsman a moment to remember that he was an adult now, a notion that was reinforced by his sheer height, towering over the small Kokiri. Mido looked Link over, suspicion crossing his features.

"Who are _you_?" he demanded, and Link hesitated, knowing that the moody Kokiri boss had no idea who he was in his new body.

"You wear Kokiri clothing," Mido remarked, his frown deepening. "But you're an outsider! Where did you get those?" Before Link could answer, however, the Kokiri spun around, waving a hand dismissively.

"Never mind," he muttered. "Its not like it matters."

"You don't know who I am?" Link asked, and Mido snorted.

"No," he replied bluntly. "I don't bother with outsiders. Ever since the Deku Tree died, all the outsiders have been monsters anyway." Mido looked back. "What makes you any different?"

Link was at a loss for words. After several moments, he couldn't think of anything he could say to refute Mido's simple accusation, and in many ways he was painfully right. Everything that had happened in this forest was, in one way or another, _his_ fault. No matter how Rauru had tried to soften the blow and shift the blame away from Link, it was by his hand that the Master Sword had been drawn and the forest had been corrupted.

But still . . . even if Link had been to blame for the blight on his homeland, that didn't mean he couldn't do anything about it. The first step to cleansing Hyrule, and his homeland, was to wash away the taint of Ganondorf's evil from this temple. And even more importantly, he had to find Saria, but Mido did not seem terribly open to conversation, regarding Link with outright suspicion. How could he convince the Kokiri he knew her, or that he was even the same person who had fled these woods seven years ago?

The answer came as he stood there in the temple, teeming with the very essence of life, the song of the woods playing in his mind. Even as steeped in darkness as they were now, he could still feel the ring of the life, untouched and unsullied by Ganondorf's taint, and that undercurrent weaved through Link's heart. As he felt it, the swordsman sensed something familiar in the pulse of life, and after a moment, he drew the Ocarina of Time from his tunic pocket, pressing it to his lips, and played.

_There are few things that are beyond the touch of any darkness, and one of those is memories of younger days, of brighter times and of life in a place that brought only peace and joy. The song that she taught, so long ago, is filled with the very essence of that place and time, echoed in the Forest Temple . . . ._

Mido heard the melody, and he looked up, his eyes widening as Link played the song, a song he called up from his heart, the song of his childhood and his dearest friend. He hoped that he would catch a flash of Saria, a glimpse of her face or the hint of her mental presence, but none came, and the song echoed throughout stone halls, dead and unheard beyond that chamber.

The song ended, and Mido stared at Link, suspicion still on his features, but mixed with shock and confusion.

"Who _are_ you?" he whispered. "that song . . . Saria taught that song only to her friends . . . ." Something flashed in his eyes, and Mido looked away. He was silent for a long while, staring off across the empty room.

"She went into the Temple," the Kokiri boss said, finally. "I told her I wouldn't let any outsiders follow her in. She told me that something was calling her here, and today, she couldn't ignore it anymore. She kept saying . . . ." Mido paused, and looked up at Link.

"She kept saying that today was when it would all be decided," he finished. "Whether the forest would be saved, or remain this way forever."

A chill traced its way down Link's spine as he heard those words, and he looked around the room, anxiety filling him as he did so.

"Which way did she go?" he asked. If Saria was here, in the Temple itself, he had no idea if she would be safe from whatever lurked in here. He remembered the monsters lurking in the places Ganondorf had corrupted long ago, and his fear for her safety grew every moment.

Mido peered across the room, and a small, unassuming wooden door could be seen on the west side of the chamber. After a second's hesitation, Mido nodded toward it. Link burst toward the door, his hand going to his sword as he neared it, and he placed his hand on the knob. Slowly, the swordsman opened the door, and peered in the room beyond, to find another long hallway, lit by eldritch candles. He slipped inside, Navi trailing behind him, and began to delve deeper into the temple.

It took the swordsman a few moments to realize he had company, and he looked back, to see Mido following silently behind him, the Kokiri boss' expression filled with intense determination, an expression he had rarely seen on the arrogant boy's face. He noted that while Mido was one of the toughest and strongest of the Kokiri, he was unarmed, but was following Link without hesitation.

"What?" the Kokiri muttered, frowning. "I'm worried about Saria too!" Link nodded, offering Mido a small smile, and turned ahead, walking up the length of the passage and to the door waiting on the far side.

* * *

The corridors beyond that hallway were just as empty and silent, but neither swordsman nor Kokiri relaxed. As with before, there was a sense of foreboding in this place, the pulse of life undercut by a dark feeling that they were being watched, and that something was luring in these halls. They found no sign of Saria, not even a trace indicating that she had passed this way. 

They passed through a darkened chamber of blank stone. Ladders rose up through several levels of masonry to a higher floor above them, and Link and Mido found themselves repeatedly blocked off by cracked stonework and collapsed debris. With some pushing and shoving, they were able to get some of the debris out of the way, opening up a way toward the upper floor. Down another dark passage, the pair found themselves walking up a series of twisting stairs, ascending ever higher into the Forest temple. Something about this seemed off to Link, for he had never known the ancient edifice to be quite so tall. There was something strange about the construction of this place . . . .

The top of the stairs led to a massive, open chamber, circular in shape, with a vaulting ceiling that disappeared into the gloom overhead. As with the other chambers and corridors, the pinpricks of eldritch candles gleamed along the walls, but the room itself was empty . . . save for an altar along one of the walls, on what Link suspected was the north side of the room. Curious, the swordsman made his way toward it, with Mido tagging along behind.

As he drew closer, Link saw an object set on the wall above the altar: a long, laminated, flexible wooden staff set with carved and polished bone and metal. He realized what the object was as he reached up to touch it: a long bow. Kokiri did not use bows very often, being far too small to carve and use ones that were effective for hunting, but the devices weren't unheard of, and the Hylians seemed to make great use of them. On the altar itself was a quiver of carefully carved and ornate wood, polished to a mirror sheen, and filled with arrows of steel and wood, with white feathers. Link knew instinctively that he was possibly one of the first people to enter this room in ages, yet everything seemed perfectly maintained.

Link reached up and took the bow in hand, raising it off its mount in an almost reverent fashion.

There was something in that moment, an almost electrical jolt that filled his body as he took the long bow in hand, a sensation of magic and power within the device. As Link held the weapon, he found the weapon instantly familiar, as if he had used it his whole life. Without even thinking about it, he raised the weapon in his right hand and pulled back on the string with his left, extending his arm out all the way and dragging the string past his ear. He released the string, and a satisfying hum filled the air.

"Weird," he muttered, and Navi bobbed beside him.

"A fairy bow," she whispered. Link raised an eyebrow at her. "Its an enchanted bow, filled with its own inner spirit. It conveys that spirit to those who wield it, but I've never heard of them doing it so easily . . . ." Link heard her trail off.

"What?" he asked, and she was silent for a moment longer.

"Like it was _meant_ for you to use it."

Mido was listening intently to the conversation, and Link could tell he was confused by the presence of a fairy companion speaking to him in such a way that matched Mido's own companion. It was then that Link noticed Mido's fairy was _nowhere_ to be found - which chilled him even more than he had already been. If Navi had been so adversely effected by just short-term exposure to the darkness that had permeated the land, how had the natural forest creatures fared over seven years?

His thoughts were cut short when Link heard a whisper of movement behind him, and he spun around, dropping the magical bow and reaching for his sword-

-and stared directly into the baleful yellow eyes of Ganondorf.

Silence filled the chamber, hanging down like thick, sloughing mud, as they met eyes, Link staring into the gaze of the immense Gerudo, who was mounted on the back of his great obsidian steed, in the center of the room. The Gerudo's face was marked by his superior smirk, the one that had sent such horror through Link mere days previously.

_How the . . . how did he get here with that horse?_

Link's musing was cut short as he heard the deep, mocking laughter of the Gerudo, even though the man himself was stock still, not shifting in place at all.

"Seven years?" Ganondorf finally remarked, his voice blasting through the tense silence like a warhammer. "Its been a while."

Link didn't speak, instead slowly drawing his sword, the light of the candles reflecting brilliantly off his blade. He realized at that moment that he'd instinctively slid into a defensive crouch, the blade low and brought out before him.

"Why are you here?" the Gerudo asked suddenly, his smile growing. "Is it some misguided quest dropped into your lap by old fools, serving Goddesses that forsook this land eons ago?" Ganondorf paused, scratching his chin with his left hand, and Link noted that his right hand bore a metal-hafted spear with a long, bladed tip.

"Or perhaps you're hear for a more personal reason?" he added. "Maybe you're looking for . . . a girl, perhaps. A little Kokiri with green hair?"

"Saria," Link breathed, and his voice was echoed by Mido. At the name, Ganondorf burst into laughter, his booming retort echoing throughout the chamber.

"She did indeed pass this way," Ganondorf muttered, baring his teeth. "Perhaps I might know more about her fate?"

"Where is she?" Link demanded, taking a step forward, and the armored Gerudo raised his left hand, clenching his fist as he did so. Dark energy swirled around his fist as he did so, and his laughter cut through the chamber and into Link's soul.

"If you wish to know," he muttered, "there is a gallery of sorts beneath the main chamber of this temple. If you're capable enough to get there, I may be inclined to tell you."

"You'll tell me, _now_!" Link shouted, and he shot forward, rushing straight at Ganondorf. He bolted across the chamber, his boots pounding on the stone floor, and as he neared the mounted Gerudo, purple light swirled around his mount's feet. The sorcerer began to sink into the floor, a whirlwind of energy enveloping his form as he descended into the ground, and as Link snarled in frustration, he heard Navi's shouts of warning.

There was something _else_ in the room.

Link whirled, and found himself staring into the gleaming red pits of blank humanoid skulls, their mouths open in fleshless smiles of malice. There were a dozen of them at least, skeletal bodies with gleaming white bones, taller than Link by a had and more, with large round shields and jagged swords in hand. The skeletal warriors were emerging from portals in the floor and walls, swirling purple maelstroms of magic, and every one of the monsters was focused on Link, advancing toward the swordsman and cutting off possible escape through the doors.

At that moment, though, Link had no intention of escaping, for he was too enraged by Ganondorf's insinuations to care how many of the enemy he was facing. With another furious shout, the swordsman hurled himself at the first skeletal warrior, the Master Sword flashing in the dim candlelight. It rose and fell, crashing against the slashing blade of the nearest skeleton, throwing the undead's blade aside. A backhanded swing took the holy weapon over the monster's shield and through its skull, smashing through bone and dark magic with ease. The skeletal warrior tumbled backward, its unnaturally animated bones falling apart and dissipating in a cloud of unholy flame and ash.

Navi's next call echoed in his mind before he'd even heard it with his ears, and Link was whirling, his blade flying across and taking the striking sword of another skeleton, who was thrusting its blade at his exposed back. Link riposted with a swift thrust, but the Master Sword rang against the undead's shield. Its sword came back across, hacking at Link's throat, and he ducked, bending his body low without even thinking. As the jagged blade flew past, Link shot up in a two-handed cleave that ripped through the skeleton's torso and spine. It toppled away, and Link threw the Master Sword out behind him, his keen ears catching the whisper of a slashing blade.

Metal rang against metal, and Link spun around, snapping his sword away from his foe's and diving into a roll. He came up in a pivot toward the skeleton, the holy blade hacking across through the undead warrior's bleached kneecaps and taking them off in a burst of blackness. There was movement to Link's left flank, and he started to spin away, only to feel a savage burning pain rip though his side. With a snarl, Link whirled back, flipping the Master Sword into an overhand grip and stabbing the divine blade into the striking skeleton's blank face.

As the monster fell backwards, Link snapped the Master Sword across to intercept another blade, and ducked, spinning away as a second and third sword slashed at him. He came out of the spin with his weapon flashing and flailing, parrying a succession of strikes from multiple foes in a resounding clash of metal on metal. Sparks flew from his foes' blades as he fought them back. An undead warrior's weapon was parried aside, and Link flew into the opening, the holy weapon cleaving through its torso. Even as the swordsman felt a rush of victory, a sharp pain struck his as his shoulder was cut by a stabbing blade. He whirled and countered with a lethal cross that bisected the undead's skull.

More blades were stabbing and pressing in around him as the monsters pushed on, heedless of their losses. Link was being pushed back, despite his fury, and he found himself being surrounded. Navi called out a warning, and he pivoted, ducking low, and a sword stabbed where his head had been. He came up with a savage thrust that took his foe in the neck, decapitating the skeleton, and then hurled himself forward into the gap, slashing and swinging and spinning, undead closing in around him. With snarls of rage and anger, the swordsman kept turning, blasting away striking blades and countering with hacks and slashes, cleaving off bleached arms and slicing through bony legs.

_There's too many._

Link snarled and pushed that treacherous thought aside, leaping backward from a slash and spring forward into an overhead cleave that bisected the offending undead from skull to waist. In the wake of the spectacular counter, a counter that would send living foes scurrying backwards in awe, a blade cut down and bit deep into Link's right shoulder, sending blood flying. He rolled backward, cursing to himself for his stupidity, and came up with the Master Sword flying and parrying.

"You can't stay here!" came Navi's cry, and Link looked up for an instant at her glow, which was flying toward the door that he had used to enter the room. He saw Mido already there, watching the battle in amazement, and, to Link's surprise, holding both the magical fairy bow and the quiver of arrows, despite their sheer size.

Link knew what he had to do, and with a roar of defiance he spun on the nearest undead blocking that passage. The Master Sword chopped and hacked in a frenzy of holy edges meeting crude swords, and he blasted through one of the undead with a two-handed chop to the midsection. Link dashed through the opening, a sword cutting into his thigh as he ran past, emerging from the throng of undead in a straight sprint toward the doorway. The monsters shambled past him as Mido opened the door and held it wide, waving for Link to hurry, and the swordsman dove through the portal. Mido hurled his weight against the door as the undead pursued, and Link spun, throwing his wounded shoulder against the wood. The door slammed shut, and an instant later a heavy impact threw both Kokiri and swordsman off their feet.

"This door won't hold," Navi said, and Link grunted as he and Mido rose to their feet. The door shook again, the wood creaking as the monster beyond threw themselves at it. Link gritted his teeth and held his sword at the ready.

"We won't have time to run," he muttered, and looked back, at the stairwell behind them. "Might be able to string them out on these stairs, though."

"That's suicide!" Mido replied, shaking his head. "I saw at least a dozen or more left, even after how many you killed . . . again. You won't be able to hold them all off like that!" Link nodded grimly, agreeing with the Kokiri's assessment. He looked down at Mido, and then gestured toward the stairs with his head as he picke dup the fairy bow on the floor.

"Then get out of here," he said, grabbing the quiver of arrows and tying them around his belt. "I'll give you time to get clear. I _will_ take these monsters down, but I need you to look for Saria."

"No," Mido replied, snarling with refusal and defiance. "I'm not going to leave you here by yourself, not if that guy on the horse knows where Saria is! You . . ." He paused, and through the anger in Mido's eyes, Link thought he saw something else, a sense of sadness or desperation.

"You . . . Whoever you are, you're the only hope she's got!" Mido's words rocked Link where he stood, and he didn't heard the deep chopping sounds of wood being hacked on by blades. The expression on Mido's face, the way he carried himself like this, and the admission he had just made . . . they were totally unlike anything Link could have imagined the Kokiri saying or doing when he had known him.

After a moment, Link slowly nodded, and knew what Mido wanted.

"You can still fight, can't you?" Link asked, and Mido nodded, not even noticing the implications in Link's words at first. Link reached down and drew the Kokiri Sword from its sheath at his side, and handed it to Mido handle first. The Kokiri took the enchanted blade in hand, and then looked over the leaf-shaped sword for a moment in confusion, for he recognized the blade he had just been handed.

"Who _are_ you?" Mido whispered, looking up at Link in confusion, and a moment later, a flicker of possible recognition passed over his face.

"A friend of Saria's," Link responded, and the door shook again. A piece of wood fell, a blade poking through the doorway, and Link raised the fairy bow. The polished metal and bone and wood rested easily in his hand, matching Navi's words that the weapon had been meant for him to use it. Link reached down, taking an arrow from the quiver at his waist, and nocking it into the string. The bow rose, and Link drew the string back effortlessly, though he could somehow sense the power in the bow's cord. The door shook again, another hole appearing in the wood.

The arrowhead lined up with the door, and Link backed away, toward the very edge of the staircase. Mido followed, staying by his side, the Kokiri Sword held tightly in his hands. Though he had never held a sword, he seemed to adapt to the small weapon with the same ease Link had seven years ago, pulling it from its place in the Sacred Forest Meadow. He stood tense and ready, and the door cracked, a gap appearing in the wood, burning red pits staring through the opening.

"Navi, guide me," Link whispered, and the fairy bobbed, shooting toward the door. As she moved, Link could feel himself being drawn after her, and thought that it was the bow reacting to her movement, but something inside told him otherwise; the connection they were showing was beyond merely the magic of this weapon, as potent as it was. The fairy hovered over the gap, and Link stilled his breath.

Link released the arrow in his hand, and the bow sang. The shaft flitted across the distance separating Link and the door, and passed through the gap, burying into the skull of the undead warrior beyond. It fell backwards, its body burning up into ash, and Link nodded as he drew another arrow, nocking it with deft ease.

_A direct hit to the head kills these things._ That had to be the source of the magic that was animating them. Link tested his theory by letting another arrow fly, and saw it stab into the shoulder of one of the skeletons on the other side of the door. To no surprise, the shaft merely cracked the bone and buried inside, but did nothing to hinder the creature as it attacked the door, its sword punching through wood. Link let fly with another arrow, and this time saw the shaft penetrate the monster's teeth. It reeled and fell away, vanishing in a plume of smoke and fire.

As Link readied another arrow, the door began to crumble, and as he drew the string back, the undead smashed through the barrier, filling the doorway. Link loosed the arrow and was rewarded when the lead skeleton collapsed, the arrow poking out of an eye socket for the instant its body remained intact. The skeletons surged forward, waving their swords as they advanced, and Link fired another shot, taking another skeleton in the gap where the nose should have been.

They were almost upon him as he nocked another arrow, and raised the bow, loosing the shot at point blank range. The arrow smashed straight through the skull of one skeleton, and carried through, penetrating another just behind it. The wooden bow clattered to the floor as Link ducked under a jagged blade, the Master Sword leaping from its sheath and slashing across, severing the attacker's spine. Beside him, Mido recoiled slightly at the ferocity of the charge and Link's swift counter, but the Kokiri swallowed his surprise and leapt forward, slashing viciously with the enchanted blade in his hands. The small blade cut through the kneecap of one of the skeletons, and it fell to the floor, where Mido stabbed it through its skull and ended the monster.

As the skeleton fell apart, Link was blocking a slashing blade and countering, lopping off the undead warrior's arm. Another sword dove at his face, and the swordsman hopped back, onto the descending stairs, barley evading the cut. He sent a swift thrust into the monster's torso, the Master Sword punching through rib bones and severing the skeleton's spine. Link then whirled as the disarmed skeleton tried to bash him with its shield arm, the swordsman sidestepping and cleaving his blade through the monster's neck. As its bones were set ablaze, Link heard Navi's call of warning and ducked, a blade nearly decapitating him. His counter was swift, a striking cleave into the side of the attacker's head that shattered bone with the force and weight behind the blow.

Pain blossomed along Link's stomach, and he skittered backwards instinctively, preventing the stab from becoming too severe, and snapped his sword down atop the offending blade, dripping with his own blood. As the sword was forced down, Link shot the Master Sword forward, taking his attacker in the jaw, the blade punching through white teeth and blasting out the back of its head. Beside that skeleton, another fell, its leg cleaved through by Mido's smalls word, and the Kokiri boss struck its skull as well, destroying another of the undead.

The Kokiri then found several of the undead shifting their gaze toward him as they advanced, as if noticing him for the first time. One raised its sword to strike at him, but Mido scrambled backward, far more agile than the tall undead soldiers. He dove around Link, taking a spot to the swordsman's right on the stairwell. They fell back as the undead pressed on, their jagged blades waving and slashing at the pair. Link's sword flew left and right, parrying blades and countering where he could, while Mido slipped forward, hacking at the ankles or knees of the undead towering over them. The stairs were only wide enough for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder, and that limited the number of attackers that could come at the pair. Skeletons advanced and fell, Link fending them off as Mido struck and finished off the maimed and wounded ones.

However, as they fought, the pair was steadily pushed down the stairs, and reached a landing below that gave the skeletal warriors more room to maneuver and surround the pair. Link made the wise move to simply give the enemy the landing, and they scrambled backward, Mido reaching the next set of stairs first and whirling, cleaving through an undead warrior's leg as it tried to strike at Link. The swordsman whirled and parried several striking blades as Mido finished off the fallen skeleton.

Suddenly, one of the undead surged forward and charged straight at Mido, ignoring Link altogether. Link opened his mouth to shout a warning when the undead warrior slammed headlong into the Kokiri, hurling him down the steps in a tangle of limbs, arms, and bones.

"Navi, help him!" Link shouted, slamming his sword into an enemy blade and driving it on, piercing the foe's temple. The fairy leapt away from his side, diving toward Mido, who was rolling away from the skeleton. The undead warrior rose to its feet and turned toward the Kokiri, raising its blade to strike. Mido leapt backward, the jagged blade gouging into the stone at his feet. The undead warrior tore its weapon free, and then suddenly reeled backward as Navi dove in front of its face, a pulse of light erupting from her aura that blinded the unholy monster's vision. Mido leapt up the side of the skeleton, using its bones as support and handholds, and drove his blade into its skull.

Link hopped back down the stairs, slicing out another skeletal leg as he retreated, and took a glancing hit to the shoulder as he fought. His tunic was riddled with cuts and bloodstains by that point, an array of small but painful cuts and stabs spread across his body. None of them were serious, but they were adding up as the battle progressed, and Link didn't have the time to stop and let them clot over.

The Master Sword pierced a spine, and Link knew that even in this narrow space he couldn't hold off the enemy forever, and they were going to bury him where he stood. Even as he fought, the skeletons were pushing their advantage, trying to force Link against the wall in Mido's absence. Before another skeleton could edge in beside him and cut him off, however, Link spun and leapt off the side of the stairway, dropping to a lower level. Link looked around, and spotted Mido nearby, and then realized that they'd been driven all the way to the lowest floor of the stairwell. The only door leading out of the room returned to the top of the debris-strewn chamber. The skeletons wasted no time rushing in pursuit, however, and Link had only a moment to set himself before another undead warrior's sword rang against his own. With a furious shout that belied his small stature, Mido hurled himself at one of the skeletal warriors, hacking at its leg and felling the undead.

Retreating into the previous chamber was out of the question; the terrain would make it impossible to retreat with this undead army dogging their heels. They would have to stand and fight. Fortunately, there only seemed be a half-dozen of the skeletal warriors remaining -

Mido was thrusting his sword into the head of a fallen undead warrior when one of the monsters struck, slashing hard with its blade. The Kokiri rolled underneath the attack, but then took an impact across the side of his head as the monster smashed its shield down. He let out a grunt of pain as he was flung backward, the Kokiri Sword clattering to the floor. The skeleton stepped toward Mido, raising its sword to end the exchange, and then exploded, a rippling wave of _ki_ blasting through its body and reducing its bones to dust.

Mido looked up through his dazzled vision, to see Link hurling himself at the undead surrounding them, hacking and slashing with both hands, roaring in fury. A bony hand shattered from the sheer force behind the impact of the Master Sword as Link whirled, cleaving down savagely and tearing another monster's head from its shoulders. Seeing Mido fall had triggered something within Link, and he slammed into the enemy like a whirling dervish.

The divine weapon cut across, slashing through a skeletal torso and arcing back, blasting a striking blade out of its owner's hand. The weapon rose and fell, bones snapping with the force of the swing, a skeletal warrior bisected. Sparks erupted from another sword, the Master Sword laving a deep gouge in the weapon's edge, and Link pushed on, chopping the sword through the skeleton's exposed cranium, sending it toppling backward in a swirl of ash. A jagged blade slashed across Link's torso, but he didn't even care as blood flew from the wound, the swordsman driving his weapon through his attacker's jawbone.

Then, there was silence, and Link stood there, surrounded by swirling ash, blood dripping from a half-dozen cuts and stabs along his body, panting in exhaustion as his muscles gave out fro the briefest of moments. The swordsman dropped to his knees, alone in the room except fro Navi and a bewildered Mido, the enemy having being utterly destroyed by that last, furious counter assault.

Link set his hands on the blank stone floor and pushed, turning himself around so he could sit down. The Master Sword clattered to the floor, and after a moment darkness crept over his vision, swallowing Link as he fell back to the floor.

* * *

"_What's beyond the forest?"_

"_I . . . don't know. I know the Great Deku Tree has told me about this place called Hyrule, and stories about things called 'cities' and 'castles', but I have no idea what those are."_

"_I'd like to see them sometime. Maybe go and see what's outside the woods."_

"_Kokiri can't leave the forest. If we set foot outside the woods, we wither and die. The Deku Tree says so."_

"_Yeah, but . . . ."_

* * *

Blue light stabbed into his eyelids as he opened them, the memory fading away, the starlight and scents and sounds and the familiar voice vanishing. Darkness framed the light as Navi drifted closer to Link's face, her concern filling her voice as she repeated his name. 

"I'm . . . alive, I guess," Link muttered, pushing up on his elbows. He shook his head, wondering what that sudden flash of memory had been about. He remembered that moment clearly, one of the last moments he'd enjoyed as a Kokiri before being sent on this wild adventure.

"How long was I out?" Link asked, and looked down, to see the Master Sword sitting beside him. He took it in hand as Navi spoke.

"Just a couple of minutes," she replied, and he nodded. Link peered around the room, and saw Mido slumped against the wall, his yes closed and not moving. For an instant, Link feared the worst, but Navi caught him before his fears could fully manifest.

"Mido's okay," she explained. "But he hit his head pretty hard. He'll be fine, but he's out cold for now."

Link nodded, standing up shakily and walking toward where the Kokiri lay. He crouched beside Mido, mixed emotions filling him as he looked over his old nemesis. Back when they had both been children, he had been a bully and braggart, and picked on Link especially, but here, Links aw him in a new light. Though he barely knew how to use a blade and was a third Link's size, he'd fought courageously for many of the same reasons Link himself had.

"Navi," Link whispered, looking up at his companion. "Stay here with him." He stood up. "I'm going after Ganondorf and Saria." Link picked up the Kokiri Sword, and paused, before crouching and placing the blade beside Mido, where he could reach it easily when he awoke.

"Are you sure?" Navi asked, and Link nodded. He moved away, climbing up the steps, and found the fairy bow, undamaged in the press of undead feet, and recovered the weapon. Slinging it across his back, Link started back down the steps. With another nod to his companion, he moved past Mido's unconscious form and headed back the way he'd come, returning to the heart of the Forest Temple, and to the place where Ganondorf had said to meet him.

The central chamber was dark, and Link paused as he passed through the door, peering around in the gloom. It seemed more shadowy and uninviting than it had just a short while before, and it took the swordsman a moment to isolate just what was wrong: the quartet of multicolored torches in the center of the chamber were out, casting the room into a near pitch black. Link considered going back to where Navi was, for her blue light was now sorely needed, but even as he considered retreat, the warrior heard a whisper of movement in the chamber.

The Master Sword erupted from its sheath as the whispers became louder, a swirl of arcane wind in the still chamber. Link gripped his blade tightly as the flames that had stood in the center of the chamber reappeared, but now as free-floating entities, transparent ghosts with glittering lanterns that regarded the swordsman with shining, malevolent yellow eyes.

They were Poes: spirits of raw evil and negative emotions made manifest. They were rare things to encounter in the woods, but with Ganondorf's power spreading across Hyrule, Link was not terribly surprised to encounter them, though their presence galled him; if Poes were able to manifest in the Forest Temple itself, Ganondorf had defiled this place worse than he'd imagined.

Link counted four of them, one matching each of the fiery colors of the now snuffed torches. Three of them, blue, red, and green, started straight toward Link where he stood, swooping across the chamber to attack him directly. Link snapped up the Master Sword as they closed in, and dove aside just as the ghosts reached his position. He whirled, the Master Sword sweeping across and bisecting the red Poe. To his surprise, the spirit let out an unnatural howl of agony, its corporeal form splitting apart at the merest touch of the Master Sword. Red flames burst from its body, the light leaping from where the creature dissipated and flowing back toward the torch it had been stolen from.

The other ghosts whirled on Link, and after a moment, they shifted, disappearing from view, only their gleaming lanterns still visible. Link took a few steps backward, and risked a glance at the purple Poe, which remained on the far side of the chamber, watching the battle progress. The remaining pair of Poes shot toward Link again, whirling their lanterns like clubs, and he dove aside again. Once more he rose, spinning, and slashed down with the Master Sword, cleaving through the space where they were hovering, only to find his blade passing through empty air to no effect.

This time, however, the Poe Link swung at whirled on him, and the lantern crashed into the side of his head, hurling the swordsman backward. He fell into an instinctive roll and came up on his feet, dizzied by the power of the impact. Link staggered away, shaking his head to clear it, and looked up in time to see the ghosts closing in on him. As they drew near, they began to shift back into sight, but as soon as they did so, the Poes backed off. Link frowned, wondering why they were doing that.

_I can't hit them when they're invisible, apparently, but when they manifest like that, they're vulnerable . . . ._

Link watched the Poes, matching his gaze with theirs as they held back, and he nodded inwardly. They could only go invisible like that for so long, it seemed, but as long as they held back, they would be able to evade his attacks and respond by shifting out of sight. He couldn't let them do that again.

The fairy bow slid off his shoulder, and Link snapped it up, nocking an arrow with a single swift motion. The ghosts froze in place, and then started to scatter, but by that time the arrow was set, and Link pulled back the string. He sighted his prey down the length of the shaft, and let fly. The bow sang, and the green ghost let loose a cry of unearthly agony before vanishing in a swirl of verdant smoke and fire.

The green torch lit up as its light was released.

Link pivoted, but the blue ghost had managed to disappear for a moment, leaving him alone with the watching purple Poe. Link ignored the silent, unmoving spirit, and peered across the chamber. Within moments, he had spotted the glittering lantern of the other Poe, trying to rise up toward the ceiling and get out of sight. Halfway up, it started to shift back into reality, and the moment it became fully corporeal, the fairy bow sang a single swift note.

The blue torch surged back into life amidst the azure Poe's wails.

Link spun toward the purple Poe, drawing another arrow, and then stopped, tensing up, for the ghost was gone.

He could hear a swirl of rushing air passing through the room, that of eldritch winds, but no breeze touched Link's face. He drew the string of the bow back, ready for any sign that the final Poe was coming to attack, when it suddenly reappeared, right in front of him.

Link let fly, and the arrow flew straight through the ghost, which vanished with a burst of laughter as the head struck it in the center of its body. Link had barely enough time to wonder what had happened when a hard blow landed on the back of his head, and he tumbled forward. The swordsman clambered up onto his feet and spun, to see the ghost vanishing out of view right behind him, the lantern disappearing as well.

_Illusions._

The Poe had some form of illusion magic which it was using to distract him. Link drew another arrow, waiting for it to reappear. The magic swirled around him again, and the ghost reappeared, only to be joined by several more, hovering in the chamber around it. Link turned, watching them as they floated there, each one staring at him with their shining eyes of hatred and evil, every ghost identical.

For an instant, he wished Navi was with him, so she could use her sensitivity to magic to root out the real ghost, but he banished the thought. Link shifted his aim, watching the ghosts for any sign that one of them was the true Poe. After several moments, Link suddenly pivoted and released his arrow, the shaft spearing through one of the ghosts, which vanished. Suddenly, the entire group disappeared.

Link ducked, and the lantern that had brained him before shot past his head. He rolled aside, the Poe laughing as it disappeared.

The damn thing was _playing_ with him.

Link readied another arrow as the ghostly illusions reappeared, intending to teach the Poe the folly in toying with him. He watche dthe ghosts carefully as they reappeared, forming into existence as one single, unified group, scattered around the chamber. The swordsman frowned as they finished forming, not sure which one was real and which ones were the illusions-

He froze, locking eyes on one of the ghosts, floating near the red torch. While it was hard to tell, he could see the color of its body tinged faintly by the light of the torch.

None of the other ghosts' forms were affected by the torchlight in the chamber.

The fairy bow sang one last time, and the ghost reeled backward as the arrow stabbed between its malevolent eyes. Violet flames flew from its body, pouring into the remaining torch, and the chamber was fully lit once more as the echo of its cries filled the room.

In the center of the chamber, there was a low rumbling, and a boxy shape rose into place in the very center of the Forest Temple: a small lift, decorated with an array of sigils and runes. Link cautiously advanced toward it, looking around the chamber.

"Do you have any more to throw at me, Ganondorf?" he called, but only silence answered Link's shout. After a few moments, he stepped into the small covered elevator, which promptly dropped through the floor, carrying him along with it into the depths of the Forest Temple.

The elevator came to a halt in an empty, blank stone room. Torches lit the chamber and the wide hallway directly in front of Link, who stepped off the elevator and walked forward, cautious after the enemies he'd been ambushed by before in this place. Nothing sprang out at him, however, and he continued down the long corridor unimpeded. A wide, ornate set of wooden double doors was positioned at the far end of the hallway, and Link opened them, to find that they opened into another wide chamber, this one dimly lit.

Link stepped inside, his instincts cautioning him, and he peered around the darkened room. He had no idea where the lighting was coming from, but it was low and even, allowing him to see that the chamber was a strange gallery of sorts, with tll paintings lining the walls and a central platform raised above the lower level. Link circled around the platform until he found a staircase, and started up. Within moments he was standing on the platform itself.

There was only silence, a heavy stillness hanging in the air as Link stood there, waiting for something he couldn't identify. The moments passed as Link slowly turned, peering at each painting, which oddly enough, were all identical: a dirt road running beside a tree in a dark night, lit only by a moon and with a tall castle in the distance.

"Ganondorf!" Link shouted suddenly, spinning around. "Where are you? Show yourself!"

The air in the chamber shifted, and Link whirled, and found himself once again staring into those baleful yellow eyes, the familiar smirk spread across the Gerudo's features as the sorcerer stood atop his jet-black mount.

"We underestimated you, kid," he remarked chuckling. "I didn't expect you to make it this far."

"Where is Saria?" Link demanded, drawing the Master Sword. The sorcerer glanced at the blade, and then his laughter became louder and more defined, filled with a mocking tone.

"That girl," he remarked, scratching his chin as he twirled his lance-spear with his other hand. "She came here just before you did, actually. Her and her arrogant little Kokiri friend. Apparently, she felt something _drawing_ her here." Ganondorf looked up at Link, and smiled.

"Interestingly enough, she came here . . . I think shortly after _you_ emerged from the Sacred Realm. The call of the 'Sages' they say." He paused, and then shrugged. "She was apparently drawn here in an attempt to drive out my master's darkness from this place . . . ."

"_Master?" _Link hissed, and Ganondorf paused, his eyes widening, and then he threw back his head, hideous, evil laughter filling the room. As he finished, he turned his gaze back toward Link and reached up with his free hand, closing it around the ear on the opposite side of is head, and _pulled._

The face ripped away with a burst of blue fire, and in its stead was an inhuman visage of darkness. Glowing flames wreathed a skull with shining yellow eyes that radiated with malice and evil.

"_I am not Ganondorf,"_ came a swirling, inhuman voice, pulsing from the monstrosity's new "face." _"I am his shadow, a phantom spirit he crafted to do his bidding and serve as his emissary." _The ghost pointed a finger at Link.

"_He has sent me to destroy you and guard his Temple, from both pathetic heroes like yourself and those worthless Sages who would try to purify it. After all, no matter whether they are destined to be Sages, they are still mortals . . . ."_

The ghost raised its spear, the tip pointed at Link, and he finally saw the weapon up close. Sudden, icy pain gripped his heart at that moment, for he looked upon the spear tip, and saw a crimson stain.

"_And even if she _was _a Sage, a Kokiri's flesh is very frail."_

* * *

-

* * *

No comment on that last sentence. Wait until next chapter to see how this showdown ends.

This chapter took an inordinate amount of time to finish, considering that its nothing but fight scenes and more fight scenes. Link will show some rather remarkably Orlando Bloom-ish capabilities with that bow in the future, by the way. :P

As I've said before, I'm going to cut back on the dungeons to make them less "game-ish." Fully expect to see Ganondorf make more extensive use of his minions to hinder Link's progress throughout the dungeons of Hyrule.

Not much else to say. Now, I'm going to go dive inside my fortified bunker before you all start chasing me with pitchforks at that cliffhanger :P

Until next chapter . . . .


	15. Chapter XIV: The Awakening

_**Chapter XIV: The Awakening**_

Shock and horror battled for control as he stared at the stained spear, the specter's words echoing in his mind. Link felt a burning in the back of his eyes, and his knees began to shake, a profound weakness filling him at that moment.

"_Saria . . . ."_

The whispered name echoed the horrific guilt that shot through Link as he stumbled forward, his mind swirling with the chaos of the emotions he felt at that moment. Almost instinctively, he reached out toward the spear, trying to touch the stain, to confirm it was real and that the ghost wasn't lying.

Just as his fingers were about to brush the phantom's lance, the specter snapped the weapon back, chuckling with its unnatural voice.

"_Now now,"_ Ganondorf's phantom said quickly, shaking its head. _"My weapon, my choice of victims. You'll get your taste of its edge soon enough."_

The words hit Link like a slap in the face, and he shifted his eyes toward the monster hovering before him, staring down at him atop its great black steed, malevolence and sadistic glee rolling off it in waves. The emotions within him continued to battle, but a new one shot through the swordsman as he stared at the thing before him, this hideous monster that had . . . that had . . . .

_Just like Ganondorf himself murdered the Great Deku Tree. This thing _murdered _Saria._

One burning emotion finally took control, and Link tore the Master Sword from its sheath as raw fury shot through him, a pure wave of rage taking control at that moment and exploding out of him in a scream of primal savagery. All form, thought, and logic vanished as Link hurled himself at the phantom, the Master Sword shining in the darkness with its desire to inflict vengeance and justice against the wicked.

* * *

Far away, in the distant keep of faceless black stone, amidst the corrupted city that had once been Hyrule's capital, the phantom's master paused amidst the rumble of his organ. He looked up, the grand organ falling silent, and a smile spread cross his lips, dark and vicious. 

Ganondorf rose and spun, his vast cape flying out behind him, and the King of Evil gestured. The organ faded, leaving the room empty save for the mighty sorcerer, who raised his hands. Dark energies swirled around him, and he extended his will and his senses into the realm he ruled. His eldritch gaze fell upon the corrupted temple deep within the Lost Woods, and as it did so, he could hear the echo of that scream of rage and fury and hate.

Ganondorf's smile grew as he clenched his fists, and with his magic he watched the battle unfold, his sorcery catching he afterimage of that echo of negative emotions, storing the violent and base feelings and impulses etching themselves into the spells that the sorcerer wove.

* * *

Mido was starting to come around, his body moving as he awoke. Navi floated above him, keeping an eye open for any dangers that might appear in their little corner of the temple. 

At that moment, however, she spun, feeling an echo of terrible, powerful emotion. She didn't know where it came from, at least not consciously, but she realized at that moment who the source was.

"Link," she breathed, fear filling her as she heard the mental resonation of his scream, bouncing off the walls of the Forest Temple and resounding throughout the sacred site.

* * *

Divine steel met profane iron, and the phantom snapped its blade aside, throwing Link backward. The enraged swordsman hit the floor and was about to spring back up when the phantom's horse shot forward. Link dove aside, the ghostly beast barely missing him. However, the apparition did not wheel to face Link, but rather rode on, leaping over the edge of the platform and toward the wall. As Link watched, the ghost dove into one of the paintings and vanished through an arcane portal. 

"Get back here!" he shouted in frustrated anger, but the phantom's only response was mocking laughter, echoing around the chamber, seemingly coming from all directions. Link glared at the painting it had disappeared into, and looked around the room, snarling with undirected fury. His free hand trembled, the Master Sword shaking as he sought his foe.

"Show yourself, coward!" he roared, and the phantom's laughter resounded again, but this time coming from _behind_ Link. The swordsman whirled toward the voice, in time to see the phantom and its horse burst from another painting, flying through an arcane portal formed within the oil and canvas, and shooting over Link's head. With a howl of triumph, the phantom raised its spear in mid-flight, the weapon crackling with eldritch lightning. Link swiped at the passing specter with his sword, not caring what spell his foe was casting, and the divine blade scored a deep wound in the flank of the ghostly mount. Even as the spirit cried in pain, however, the phantom Ganondorf snapped its spear down, and a torrent of lightning slammed into the floor, bursting in every direction from the point of impact - including into Link.

The lightning shot through his body, and he let out a scream of agony. It was nothing like the bolts of electricity he'd endured in the depths of Jabu-Jabu; these tendrils of energy felt like rivers of raw agony, clawing at his skin, rending into his flesh and peeling at his muscles. Link toppled forward as the lightning fade, falling to his knees.

"_You understand now, don't you? You are _nothing _before the power that is Ganondorf!"_

The words sent another flash of rage through Link, and he rose, spinning around, in time to see the phantom burst from another painting, more lightning erupting from its spear as it flew through the air. The bolts were released at Link's feet, and his fury was blasted aside, the swordsman falling to the floor as the evil magic tore at his body. As the crackling bolt petered out, Link lay on the floor, panting, his mind numb from the barrage of indescribable agony shooting through him.

He couldn't even hit the phantom, and at this rate, another barrage like that might kill him, and Saria would have died for nothing.

That thought stilled Link's breath, and the pain became meaningless, clarity shooting through his thoughts, and he shoved himself back up onto his feet.

The phantom's laughter filled the air as it started to emerge from another portal, but as it leapt out, Link was yanking the fairy bow off his shoulder and nocking an arrow. The phantom ignored the resurgence from its foe, readying another spell, and launched the blasphemous energy at the swordsman's feet. The lightning lanced through the floor, stabbing and rending at Link's body, and he shook with agony, snarling uncontrollably as the energy cut through him.

But Link's aim did not falter.

The arrow soared through the air, piercing the spirit mount's head, and it vanished in a burst of raging black fires. The phantom Ganondorf flew off the back of the horse, flipping over in the air as it righted itself, and spun toward Link, its eyes projecting hatred as if it would kill the swordsman where he stood.

Link stumbled, dropping the bow, the pain echoing across his body, but he ignored it. Instead, the Master Sword rose, and he glared at his nemesis. The agony he was suffering at that moment would have dropped any normal man, leaving them paralyzed on the floor, but Link was too angry to let his body surrender. With a snarl, he strode toward his foe, the blade held tightly in his hands.

"_Pathetic," _the ghost intoned, and snapped its spear out. Another bolt of lightning, this one smaller and more focused, burst from the weapon. It slammed into Link, and the swordsman was knocked back off his feet, rolling away across the room.

"_You don't know when you're defeated, do you?" _the phantom Ganondorf asked, dropping to the floor and walking toward Link, who grunted and stood back up, shaking his head. His stance was bent over, leaning heavily as he stood, as if he could barely even raise his blade.

"_This defiance is nothing but an amusing spectacle that confirms the gifts my master has bestowed on me!" _The phantom's ensuing laughter resounded throughout the chamber, deep and potent, and its strode toward Link, twirling the spear in its hands casually as it advanced. Baleful, evil eyes of burning light met Link's glazed, pain-filled orbs, and the phantom knew it had already won. The spear rose up, spinning around, and shot down at the beaten hero, heading straight for his battered and rent heart.

* * *

Mido's balance was returning, and he started to sand up, bending down to recover the Kokiri Sword. He looked up, to see the fairy that had accompanied the strange outsider bobbing in nervousness. The fairy seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn't precisely place her yet. 

"What's wrong?" he asked, ignored the throbbing in the back of his head.

"He's in pain," she whispered, and then shot down the tunnel. Mido yelled and chased after her as best his uncertain feet could manage.

* * *

The Master Sword rang loudly, a church bell of holy resolution amidst the corrupted splendor of the Forest Temple. 

The phantom barely had time to react as the battered, wounded swordsman, spun around impossibly fast, breaking the divine blade from its spear and coming around, a whirling slash cutting at its knees. The ghost jumped up and back, the divine blade barely missing its boots, and the ghost swung the spear across to parry a rising stab. The swordsman ducked under a countering swing, and leapt at the hovering ghost, his eyes blazing with furious light.

The impact of holy metal on ghostly iron rang once more, and the phantom was knocked down to the ground by the power in the swing. It hit the floor, dropping to its knees, and Link let out a scream of fury, all reason abandoned in a tidal wave of adrenaline-fueled emotion. The Master Sword rose and fell, a barrage of two-handed cleaves and chops that crashed into the ghost's spectral weapon, pushing it down and back. Link hacked away, tears flying from his eyes as he unleashed his wrath on the monster that had killed his dearest friend.

Then, as the holy sword met the ghost's spear, another burst of agony shot through him; in his moment of berserk fury, Link had not seen the lightning gathering in the evil weapon until the phantom had released it. The burst of searing pain wasn't enough to totally halt Link's assault, but it gave him enough pause to let the phantom shoot forward, inside the next swing, and smash its elbow into the swordsman's chin. Link flew backward and rolled across the platform, his momentum broken by the quick, sudden counterattack.

The swordsman was clambering back onto his feet, his anger still driving him onward, but as he rose, a spear dove for his chest. The Master Sword parried, and as the two weapons struck, the phantom lashed out with another punch, staggering Link backward once more. He snapped his blade across to defend against another attack, only to have the spear slap it aside. The blunt end of the ghost's weapon smashed into the side of Link's head, and even as he was reeling from that blow, a low trip with the spear sent him crashing to the floor on his back. Agony shot up from his stomach even as he hit the stone, a spear butt blasting into his gut.

The Master Sword struck, a clumsy counterattack at the ghost's legs, and it hopped up and back, flying away from his desperate strike. Link scrambled to his feet, in time to spot another bolt of eldritch lightning leap from his foes' weapon and stab into his torso. The blast lifted the hero clear off his feet and launched him across the platform, gasping and screaming involuntarily.

Link lay on the stone for only a second, and at that moment latched onto every emotion he felt: hate, rage, fury, grief, and others he couldn't begin to describe. The phantom hit the floor behind him, raising its spear to strike, and Link shot to his feet, screaming in incoherent violence. The Master Sword blasted aside the spear, and he launched himself at the phantom, which backpedaled quickly, taken aback by the ferocity of that last, desperate surge. Their blades rang a half-dozen times in half as many seconds, Link giving every emotion and feeling he had in that barrage. The phantom was battered backward, and the divine blade in Link's hands dove down, nearly taking its head off.

_Nearly_ wasn't quite enough.

The phantom leaned back a hairsbreadth from the mighty blow, and as Link's strike flew past, it stepped forward, flowing into the strike and spinning, closing its left hand over the swordsman's extended left arm and holding his wrist fast, turning its back on the hero. In the same motion, the phantom snapped the spear's blunt end out behind it and into Link's abused stomach, and the swordsman doubled over, grunting in agony. Without hesitation the ghost whirled, the spear flying out wide and the blade slashing across Link's chest, opening a deep and wide gash in his torso.

Blood shot through the air, and the spear came back across, lower this time, and though Link fell away from the blade, the spear cut through one of the pouches on his belt, spilling the contents out onto the floor. Purely on instinct, Link brought the Master Sword to bear, and caught another spear slash, but the phantom barely slowed, releasing the spear and letting it spin over the top of the clumsy parry. Ganondorf's ghost caught the spear and snapped the blunt end up into Link's chin, a blow so powerful that it shocked Link's entire body, and the Master Sword dropped from his hands to clatter across the stone.

The swordsman fell backward, nearly dropping to the floor, but his fall was arrested as the phantom grabbed the front of his tunic. He suddenly left the stone, the ghost flying backward and up, over the center of the platform. Its evil eyes stared into Link's glazed, stunned expression, this one honest and no ruse to lure it in. With a snort of contempt, the ghost pumped its arm, tossing Link up into the air-

_Wham!_

-and slammed the butt end of the spear into his stomach, launching the brutalized hero straight into the ground. Something broke as Link his the floor and rolled away, blood leaking from his chest and staining his already darkened and ravaged tunic.

He lay on the floor, his lifeblood pouring out, his vision darkening. That last surge had cost him everything, and he only knew pure exhaustion and throbbing pain. The Hero of Time lay still, his breath shallow, and though his will refused to surrender, he could no longer fight this enemy.

His eyesight blurred, but as Link's vision began to fade, an object came into view, something that his eyes managed to focus on in that last moment.

Boots his the floor behind him, and the ghost strode forward, cautiously, its spear held tightly in its hands, watching for any signs of another surge of fury from the beaten hero. It paused, for at that moment the broken hero was reaching for something lying on the ground, his hand slowly inching toward it. The most cursory examination showed it didn't matter in the slightest, however, and the phantom snorted at his foe's apparent sentimentality.

"_Ganondorf sends his regards, Hero of Time," _the ghost snarled, laughing, and the spear rose up over the beaten form.

* * *

Navi shot down the corridors of the Forest Temple, fear and apprehension filling her. She burst through the open double doors of the gallery, and froze, horror filling her at the sight. 

The dark phantom of Ganondorf towered over Link, the stained spear dripping his blood, and let out a howl of victory as the weapon plunged toward the still hero's form.

* * *

"_I thought you might be leaving." _

"_The Great Deku Tree . . . before he . . . he told me I needed to go outside the forest. He gave me a mission."_

"_I know. I knew you would leave someday anyway . . . because even with Navi and even living with the rest of us for so long, you're different from me and my friends. I don't know how to explain it, but I always had this feeling that you would someday decide the forest wasn't big enough, and you would leave, no matter how hard I tried to get you to stay._

"_But that's okay . . . because we'll be friends forever, won't we?"_

"_Always." _

* * *

_A scent of fresh berries._

Navi's scream echoed through the corridors of the Forest Temple.

_The warm breeze of the forest._

That scream could only be heard underneath the howl of the victorious spirit, resounding in the passages.

_Strands of pure green hair, waving amidst that breeze._

As both faded, however, a single word could be heard, clear as a bell on the brightest noon day, and that word echoed in the mind of even the great King of Evil, watching that confrontation across the breadth of the kingdom from high atop his keep.

"_No."_

By all manner of the imagination, it was impossible. The phantom had watched him reel, had heard his screams, and had seen the blood pour down his body as he had been systematically destroyed. He was broken, he was defeated, he was lost, and he was _dead_.

And at that moment, Link's left hand held the spear by the haft underneath its head, his fingers wrapped around it like iron and his blue eyes shining with pure, unfettered determination. His muscles were still, solid, and did not shake as he grasped that spear, dripping with his own blood, one arm holding back all the blasphemous magic of Ganondorf's sorcery.

In his other hand, grasping with delicate fingers, was the ocarina Saria had given him the last time he had ever seen her.

Link's legs coiled, and lashed out, slamming into the ghost's chest and _launching_ it backward. It flew away, righting itself in mid-air, and spun around as Link stood up calmly, grasping the tiny wooden ocarina in his right hand, and bent down to scoop up the Master Sword.

The tip of the holy weapon rose, pointing at the ghost.

"I will cleanse this temple of your taint," he whispered in the reverent silence of that chamber.

"For Hyrule, for the Kokiri . . . ." He narrowed his eyes, and the Hero of Time took a single step forward.

"And for Saria."

* * *

Mido was silent, standing in the doorway of that chamber, looking upon the swordsman, who radiated a fierce light of raw fire and determination, the glow of his blade filling the room with subtle but potent light. He had never seen anything like it. 

Those words struck something deep in Mido's heart, and the Kokiri watched as the man strode toward his enemy, speaking the name of his dearest friend, and Mido finally _knew_ who he was looking upon.

"Link," he whispered, not understanding how this had happened, but in his heart, he knew it to be true.

Mido looked down at the Kokiri Sword in his hand, and knew what he had to do at that moment, as if a voice was whispering in his ears, a familiar and soothing voice he had known all his life.

* * *

By all measures of sanity, he should have passed out at that moment. He had fought his way tooth and nail though the corrupted forest, battling the very landscape itself to reach his destination. He had fought and destroyed countless minions of darkness outside and within the Forest Temple, and had just survived the most brutal battle of his life. 

Link denied his exhaustion, parrying a spear thrust and countering with a spinning slash that cut across the ghost's chest, the divine blade piercing the faux armor plate the ghost wore. It reeled backward, not understanding how a beaten foe could have risen up to challenge him like this yet again.

By all measures of sanity, Link should have collapsed, covered with numerous wounds, including the wide gash across his chest and the blood pooling on the floor.

Link denied his wounds, leaping into a spinning cleave that threw the ghost's weapon out wide, and following through with a swift backhand that scored a deep, agonizing wound across the evil spirit's torso, the Master Sword biting deeply into its prey. The phantom tried to retreat, but Link pursued, not halting despite his battered and broken body.

By all measures of sanity, he couldn't even be fighting. Bones in his body had been broken in the battle, he had bled heavily, and moments before he had been passing out, helpless and defeated.

Link denied that weakness, just as he denied the desperate counterattack by his foe, scoring another terrible blow across his victim's stomach, holy power burning into the phantom's sorcerous body. The thing retreated, leaping up into the air and flying away, crackling lightning shooting down its spear as it launched its favored weapon in times like this.

By all measures of sanity, Link couldn't survive, much less fend off, another hit from that spell.

Link denied that logic, his guardian fairy rushing to his side, the Master Sword slashing across as the bolt stabbed down at him. The holy metal absorbed the impact and launched it back at the ghost, who could only stare in horror for the instant it took the crackling blast to hammer into its body.

Navi floated beside Link as he strode toward his foe, and the ghost shot up to its feet in an instant, shrugging off that blast and hurling itself at Link. With his comrade beside him, however, the Hero of Time saw the coming assault, and the Master Sword met the next thrust even before it had been launched. Link spun around the attack and cut down, the divine blade slicing deep yet again. The phantom reeled backward, its corporeal form failing it.

"Link!" came a shout as the hero knocked aside a wild swing, and stepped inside the phantom's guard. Link _felt _more than saw the weapon flying through the air, and as Mido's voice echoed in his ears, he spun, reaching up, and caught the Kokiri Sword as it tumbled end over end. Link turned back on his foe, the Master Sword holding the ghost's spear out wide, and in his right hand, he flipped the Kokiri Sword over into an overhand grip.

The enchanted blade of the forest itself stabbed down into the phantom's chest, and it dropped to its knees, groaning in pain and agony, the spear in its hands falling to the floor and dissolving into black ash.

It looked up as blue light surged around Link's arms, and the Hero of Time stared down at it, raising the Master Sword high. His _ki_ flowed across the blade as he charged it up with his own essence, the spiritual energy burning bright red as it intensified.

The Master Sword fell, and the raw life force burst from the blade as it stabbed into heart of the ghost, blasting its corporeal form and rending it down to its very essence. The phantom screamed, a horrific screech of agony as it was blasted apart, its shell shattering under the wrath of Link and the holy weapon he bore.

Silence filled the chamber as the ghost dissipated, its spirit essence huddling close together, as if terrified by the might of the Hero of Time. As the moments passed, and the living beings in the room watched, darkness swirled around the ghost, its broken form being pulled backward toward a vortex that burst into place on one end of the platform.

"_Not bad, kid,"_ came the deep, all-pervasive tones of a familiar figure, flowing out of the portal to encompass the entire chamber.

"_Seems I underestimated you,"_ Ganondorf added, and his chuckle vibrated the chamber as the ghostly form was dragged into the vortex, the phantom shivering and shaking as its essence was pulled away.

"_But you have only defeated my phantom,"_ he added, his voice dripping with the sneer he no doubt was wearing. _"If you ever faced the real thing, you'd learn the truth of how the Triforce has strengthened me. But you should know, after all; it was _you_ who gave it to me, wasn't it?"_

Link would not be baited, and remained silent as the phantom was totally subsumed by the portal, which began to fade away.

"_Hmph,"_ Ganondorf added, snorting. _"That ghost was completely useless. What a waste of time it was to create it! I think I'll put dump it in the gap between dimensions. Take care, little hero. I look forward to seeing you."_

And with that, the last vestiges of darkness vanished.

Link looked away from where the portal had stood, and toward his comrades. Mido was standing on the edge of the platform, his eyes filled with astonishment and recognition, mixed with happiness and triumph. Link offered him a smile as he sheathed the Master Sword.

"Its been a while," he offered, and Mido nodded.

"You were gone for too long," Mido replied, shaking his head. He hesitated, looking away for a moment. "Look, about what happened all that time back . . . I'm sorry. I was angry, but I shouldn't have treated you like that."

"Its okay," Link replied with a nod. "The past is the past, and we can't ever go back to it." Mido thought about those words for a moment, and then smiled.

"Guess you're right," he said. "So, did you find Saria?"

Link was silent for a moment, and looked down at the ocarina he had been holding, the same one Saria had crafted for him, and the item that had reminded him of why he was fighting. He closed his eyes, willing away the ache and sadness that was creeping back into his soul, and then opened his eyes to explain it all to Mido.

All Link saw at that moment was pure white light, which rapidly faded to the shimmering blue of running water, amidst a chamber of silent, serene, and holy darkness.

_The Chamber of Sages._

Link looked around the room, not understanding if this was really the same room he'd met Rauru in before, or just a vision.

His questions remained unanswered, for he never asked them. His attention was caught as he saw a figure standing at the edge of the platform, looking away into the reverent emptiness surrounding the lone platform. He remained silent for a while, simply watching her as she peered into the darkness, struck by how similar she looked to that last moment before he'd begun his journey. Finally, she turned, and those green eyes, brimming with joy and affection, met his once again.

"Its been a long time," she whispered, and Link nodded, looking down at the relic he carried in his hands. She peered at it, and gave him a smile, tinged in sadness.

"I . . . ." Link paused, and shook his head. "I couldn't save you. I'm sorry, I should have-"

"Shh," Saria replied, and walked across the platform toward him. In his adult body, Link found he towered over her, but he felt dwarfed by her presence in that place. The very pulse of life poured off of her as she neared him, her smile shifting to show genuine good cheer.

"Its isn't your place to save Sages," she said, reaching up and taking his hand in hers. "Its only your place to awaken them."

"But I could have saved you," Link said, closing his eyes, guilt filling him. "If I hadn't been so _weak_-"

"Link."

He opened his eyes and looked into hers, which shone with the same gentle thoughts and feelings she had always shown him.

"It was your emotions, your memories and your courage that purified the Temple," she explained. "You fought with all your heart, and when you abandoned the feelings that were slowing you down, leaving that guilt and self-hatred behind, it was only then that you realized _who_ you really were."

Link was silent, not sure what she was talking about, and Saria was quiet for a moment as well. They remained that way, simply enjoying one another's presence for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

"I know now why you always wanted to leave the forest," she whispered. "I should have suspected, but I didn't really know anything back then."

"I had a destiny," Link replied, but Saria shook her head.

"You still have a destiny ahead of you, Link," she said. "A destiny that will be repeated for the rest of eternity. You won't be the only one the Goddesses will chose to carry that sword and defend the Triforce."

"I _lost_ the Triforce," Link said, but Saria shook her head again.

"You are the Hero of Time, Link," she whispered. "Chosen by the Goddesses. You would never have stayed in our home, no matter how hard I tried to get you to remain. I see that now. You were, and always will be, different from me and my friends." She paused, and looked up at him.

White light began to flow around Link, and he felt himself drifting away, Saria's presence fading, yet remaining deep within him as he was whisked away. The swordsman tried to fight it, but the power was too strong, and he could feel her spirit staying with him as he was carried back to the realm he had departed, and Link stopped fighting.

As the light engulfed him completely, Link heard Saria's voice once more, and her final words sent a powerful wave of peace over him as he returned to the realm he was to defend.

"But I'll still always be _your_ friend, Link. Kokiri or Sage, it doesn't matter. Saria will always be your friend . . . ."

* * *

-

* * *

Very rarely, when I finish writing a chapter or segment of a story, I'll have to stop, get up, and walk away for a minute, because I feel a very powerful emotional backlash from whatever I've just written. Though by my standards, this chapter is remarkably short and to the point, I felt that same sort of emotional feedback from my own work, as I put a whole lot of myself into this chapter. As I said, its doesn't happen very often, once or twice a year when I write something I feel is particularly emotionally potent (such as the Eyes on Me scene in Gunblade Saga, for example) I honestly didn't expect to feel that as I wrote this chapter, but as I continued along the the battle between Link and Phantom Ganon, I had a flash of inspiration, and this chapter was elevated from simply being an emotionally charegd fight scene to what it is now. I'm not sure if anyone else feels the same way, but for me, it was something...special. 

Well, with that said, I will announce that we've effectively reached the halfway point of this story. The first part was Link as the Kokiri we all know and love, and with his home saved, his best friend ascended into Sagehood, and his destiny accepted, Link has moved from simply being a Kokiri boy heading out on his journey to truely becoming the Hero of Time. Expect even more intense combat and adventuring over the coming chapters as Link continues his quest.

And yes, Link really had the crap kicked out of him in this chapter, or, as I like to call it, the "John McClain Treatment." :P Its something of a habit of mine to have a character I _really_ like get seriously torn up during at least one point of the story.

As we're at the effective halfway point for this story, I'm going to take a break from writing for a few weeks. Classes are starting back up in a week or two for me, so I'll be busy for a while. Updates will be sporadic.

Until next chapter . . . .


	16. Chapter XV: Homeland

_**Chapter XV: Homeland**_

Even the wisest of mortals would have been hard-pressed to explain what had transpired at the heart of the Forest Temple. Somehow, despite the wounds and exhaustion and the sheer amount of energy he had expended hurling himself at his foe, the swordsman shouldn't have been able to rise again, much less soundly defeat his foe with shocking ease. Those versed in the Hylian anatomy and physiology would have conjectured that the fallen swordsman had accessed unseen reserves of energy to rise up and strike anew. Others of a more arcane mindset would have cited the nature of the environment, the living energy pouring through the Temple, as the source of the warrior's resurgence. Those of the more faithful persuasions would have spoken of divine intervention, while the more humanist would have remarked that it was his connection to his friends and history that had given him that moment of clarity.

The truth was that all those theories would have had some aspect of reality, if any of them had been presented. However, beyond Mido, Navi, Saria, the Great King of Evil himself, and the Hero of Time, none knew what had transpired in that desperate, savage struggle beneath the Forest Temple. Regardless, when the blue light faded and his boots touched the soil of the real world once more, the source of power he had harnessed had faded.

Thus it was that Link managed to get a glimpse of a comfortably familiar meadow, and the immense form of an ancient guardian spirit, before he fell flat on his face.

* * *

Giggling laughter caressed his mind as the darkness receded. It filled him with a sense of warmth and familiarity, nostalgia and peace. Voices, those of children speaking in sing-song tones, touched him as he opened his eyes, and interminable light poured into his vision. He recoiled, closing his yes, and as the glow faded, his nose caught the familiar scent of the forest surging all around him, and his skin could feel the warmth of living bodies pressing around him. hands touched his body, small and slender. 

"Hey, is he awake?"

"I think so!"

"He's so huge!"

"Hey, hey! Get out of the way!"

The familiar voice opened Link's eyes again, and he realized that the dull pain he had felt before had mostly faded. There were wrappings and bandages all over his body, of the thin green cloth the Kokiri favored.

He was lying back against a tree, the wood bark digging into his skin through the fabric, and surrounding him were dozens of small, green-clad children. The Kokiri stared at him with curious and fascinated eyes as he sat there, coming back to the realm of the living.

They rapidly parted as a muscular form, that of Mido, pushed his way toward the front, and stood before Link, his arms crossed as he faced the curious forest children.

"Clear out, guys," he ordered, and he started waving the other kids away. Link frowned, confused, and the Kokiri reluctantly backed away, disappointed. Mido followed them herding the children out of the meadow, leaving Link by himself. He peered around the open meadow, and as its familiarity touched him, he looked up. With a start, Link realized he was lying up against the remnant of the Great Deku Tree, the spirit's bark gray and hard.

Link quickly stood and backed away from the dead tree, his memories of his father's last moments echoing once again, the emotions returning. The Great Deku Tree had asked him to stop Ganondorf and protect the Triforce, and he had failed so miserably at that task . . . .

There was a flicker of light overhead, and Link saw Navi drifting down from the branches as the last of the forest children hurried out of the meadow. She floated down beside him, and Link could see from the way her wings drooped that she was tired. Without any spoken words, he simply tapped the side of his head, where the brim of his long cap was, and she bobbed, floating inside it. She must have been as exhausted as he was, for she stopped moving the moment she was comfortable and went to sleep.

By the time Navi had settled down, Mido had returned, and waved for Link to follow him. curious, the swordsman followed, and they walked around the vast outer roots of the Great Deku Tree.

The swordsman blinked as they came around the front of the ancient spirit's remains, and saw a small, squat brown tree growing at the foot of the Great Deku Tree, a thick, springy, and leafy sapling. Like the Great Deku tree, this plant had grown a face, matching that of a young child like a Kokiri's.

It was a Deku Sprout; Link had been told stories of how Deku Tree spirits grew from sprouts, but he'd never seen one before. As he walked around before the Sprout, it looked up at him, its face transforming into a wide smile.

"Ah, there you are!" it said, its voice cheerful and musical, reminding Link of the songs his own ocarina played. "I was wondering when you were going to wake back up."

"I was a bit delayed," Link replied with a shrug. "So, are you . . . ."

"I am," the Sprout replied, and its springy form twisted slightly, the branches waving toward the remains of the Great Deku Tree. "When the Great Deku Tree realized he was going to die, he used a great deal of his power to form the seed that would become me. I'm his successor, you could say, and he left all of his knowledge and power within me once he died . . . though I had a hard time using it with all of the darkness and evil in the forest. Even the magic of the Great Deku Tree can't overcome the power at the heart of the forest."

"But Saria and myself purified the Forest Temple," Link explained, and the Sprout bobbed its branches.

"Of course!" it replied. "And thanks to you and Saria, I can now grow help repair the damage to the woods. And more importantly, now that you've recovered the Master Sword, I can tell you a lot more than the Great Deku Tree could while you were still a child."

Link looked down at the smiling, stumpy sapling, and then turned to Mido, who he found was walking away. The Kokiri boss glanced over his shoulder as he walked, and nodded.

"Its private," he grunted, and then walked back into the woods, leaving Link and Navi alone with the sprout.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Link asked, sitting down on the grass in front of the Deku Sprout.

"Well, you noticed that none of your old friends recognized you," the Sprout explained, gesturing with a limb toward where the Kokiri had departed. "They had no idea who or what you were, because you were an adult." Link nodded, confused, and the Sprout shook its limbs.

"That's because Kokiri never grow up!" it explained. "Here, in this forest, nothing ever ages or grows older, and the forest children embody that life force flowing through the woods, which is why they will never age no matter how long they live."

"But when I left the woods," Link said, frowning, and he touched his chest. "I grew up into an adult."

"That's true," the Sprout replied. "I know you have no idea why that happened, but as you know, Kokiri don't grow up. They are not supposed to leave the forest, but even if they did they wouldn't begin to become adults like you did."

"Then why did I . . . ." Link bean, and he trailed off as the knowledge began to add up. Saria's last words as he had left the Temple of Light echoed in his mind.

"Did you ever wonder why it was so strange that you were the only Kokiri never had a fairy, or who ever wanted to leave the forest?" the Sprout asked. "All the other Kokiri were content to live in the woods, because their hearts were buried in this forest, and their souls were at home beneath the leaves, but you were never bound or confined to this place."

"I'm not a Kokiri," Link whispered, the knowledge shocking him, and he looked to the Sprout for confirmation. The slender branches shook again.

"You are a _Hylian_," it replied. The wooden face expanded in a wide smile. "You were born outside the forest, in Hyrule itself, which is why you adapted so easily to the fields and open expanses of the land beyond."

"How did I . . . ." Link asked, and the Sprout shook again. It was certainly the most _animated_ tree he had ever encountered.

"It was quite a long time ago," the Sprout explained, and Link felt a touch of its awareness flow over him, and in his mind, he saw flames springing up across the fields of Hyrule, shouts and yelling and the clash of swords and shields, the screams of the dead and dying filling the air.

"A terrible civil war had struck Hyrule. The former King of Hyrule managed to unify his forces and rally the kingdom back to his banner, and reunify the country, but before he did so the realm was torn apart by horrible fighting."

The images shifted, the fires fading and replaced by the cool shade of the forest canopy. Link saw a figure, a tall blonde Hylian woman, clutching her side with one hand and holding a swaddled blanket. As she walked, Link saw blood trickling through the fingers holding her side. She fell to her knees, and then figures emerged from the bush, small and clad in green. As he watched, Link saw several curious Kokiri edge forward from the trees and approached the woman. He didn't hear what they had to say, but as he watched, they helped steady the woman, and the group stumbled deeper into the woods.

"One day, a Hylian mother whose husband was killed in battle fled to these woods, but she was gravely wounded," the Sprout continued. "The Kokiri found her and her child, and led her to the Great Deku Tree, who they thought could save her."

The scene transformed, showing the Great Deku Tree towering over the woman as she sat on the grass, cradling her baby. As he watched, she looked up to the Deku Tree, and Link felt a wave of empathy pass between them. The woman smiled, setting the sleeping child on the grass, and slowly slid backwards, laying still in the meadow.

"The wounds were too severe, and the Hylian mother had only a short while to live," the Sprout replied, its voice wistful. "But as she lay dying, she asked the Great Deku Tree to protect her child, and he agreed. More importantly, the Great Deku Tree sensed a powerful destiny hanging over the child, and he knew that the child was chosen. Thus was the baby raised as a Kokiri, and none of the forest children knew where their new friend had truly come from.

"That child was _you_, Link," the Sprout explained. "The Great Deku Tree before me raised you for this destiny you are realizing even now."

Link sighed, nodding.

"To be the Hero of Time," he replied, and reached up over his shoulder, grasping the Master Sword. He drew the holy blade and looked over it for a long while, staring at his reflection in the polished steel, before sheathing the sword.

"You know what you have to do," the Sprout remarked, and Link nodded again.

"Purify the other temples across Hyrule," he replied, "and awaken the other Sages.

"Only then can Ganondorf be defeated."

* * *

The paths leading back toward the village were quiet and peaceful, and Link could feel the shadow that had fallen over his homeland slowly fading, the power of Saria and the Deku Tree Sprout clearing away the darkness that had wreathed the Kokiri Forest. But yet . . . . 

Was this really his home now? It was where he had been raised, and he knew this land like a close friend, but so much had happened on his journey, and he knew that he couldn't stay in this place. He wasn't a Kokiri, and stepping out of the woods had started him along the path to a much greater adventure in a much larger world.

Did he even have a home anymore?

Link paused outside the village he had lived in for most of his life. The Kokiri were out and about, working and playing and reveling in life with the zest and joy he had remembered from his youth. Feelings of nostalgia and longing came over him as he recalled that same life he had lived, which felt like eons past.

"So, Saria?" came a voice beside him, and Link looked down, to see Mido standing beside him. Link frowned, wondering how the Kokiri had snuck up on him like that.

"She . . . ." Link murmured, looked down to his pouch, and touching it, feeling the tiny ocarina hidden inside.

"She won't be coming back, will she?" Mido whispered, and Link looked to the Kokiri boss. The boy's features were scrunched up, as if he was trying to hide the pain that was visible on his face.

"She's already here," Link replied after a second, and he reached up, touching one of the leaves hanging over his head. "Saria loved this forest with all her heart. She was the closest to it, and now she's a part of it." Mido looked up at Link, hearing the certainty in his voice, and then touched the bark of a nearby tree. After a few moments, he slowly nodded and looked back to Link.

"So, you've come back," he remarked. "Are you going to stay here?"

Link hesitated, reading Mido's features, and something in him caught a feeling of hope, as if Mido wanted him to return.

"I can't," Link said after a long while, looked back toward the village.

"Why?" Mido asked, and Link closed his eyes.

"What happened here in this forest," he explained. "It wasn't unique. The entire land of Hyrule has suffered just like our home." He looked up. "And its my job to set things right again."

"What do you mean?" Mido asked, and Link smiled wistfully.

"Destiny," he replied, and started toward the village. "Come on. I can't stay, but I want to see it all again. I'll need this memory where I'm going."

* * *

As Link returned to his home, and was mobbed by dozens of curious Kokiri, a pair of red eyes watched him. The forest children surrounded Link, asking him all manner of questions and gawking at the "outsider," who they rarely saw in the distant, enchanted woods. Link pointedly dodged answering who he was, for the children would never believe he was the fairyless Kokiri boy who had lived with them seven years ago. 

The one named Sheik quietly perched on the branch overlooking the forest, hidden behind leaves and branches high above the village. The hidden one could see Link lingering in the woods, and understood his hesitation to immediately pass on. As the Shiekah watched, Link was pulled into several games with the curious and eager Kokiri, and he joined them with a relish, taking advantage of his size and unexpected familiarity with the ways of the forest children.

It was strange, thought the Shiekah. Link had all the strength and mental development of an adult, but in many ways he was still that carefree child of the woods. That same energy and zest for life filled him, and he reverted to the child he was deep inside instantly when he had rejoined his friends. How could one such as he fight with such passion and accept his goals in life and his destiny in the Goddess' plan so easily? Sheik had seen the state he'd been in hen he left the Forest Temple, and the hidden one's heart ached to see him in such a shape. The Shiekah could only imagine what brutality he had suffered while cleansing that Temple.

It wasn't fair that one as innocent as this boy had such a weight and so much suffering heaped on his shoulders. Sheik felt a pang of guilt and sorrow to see the child disappear under the weight of his destiny, buried to give him the strength and will he needed to defend this same innocence.

The day wore on, and Sheik finally moved on, the hidden one's emotions mixed as Link spent a brief time with his childhood, before continuing toward his brutal and unfair destiny.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon of the next day when the villagers of Ordon spotted a familiar figure walking up the road into the village. They waved to Link, who waved back, Navi floating beside him; she'd reawakened during his brief stay in his homeland, fully rested and ready to help him again. They'd kept each other company as they walked along the trails leading through the forests and back toward the quiet little village. 

Two men, member's of Mica's resistance group, greeted Link as he made his way into the village, and led him back to the cabin where the soldier dwelled. Having returned to the village, Link could actually spare the time to take it all in. Friendly people waved to the relative stranger as he passed, and he could feel the good cheer and simple courtesy and friendliness of the local villagers. Stout, muscular men and tall, large women herded goats or tended fields of pumpkins and other vegetables, and woodsmen worked timber and lumber while children played, reminding him of his own homeland.

Soon enough, Link stepped through the doorway leading into Mica's home, and he came face to face with the resistance leader as he was talking with a couple of his troops. As soon as Link entered, he dismissed his men, leaving the swordsman alone in the anteroom. Mica approached with a smile and patted the hero on his shoulders.

"Good to see you came back alive," he remarked, and Link nodded, sitting down at one of the chairs in the room.

"My rangers are reporting that the air in the woods has changed over the last couple of days," he explained, sitting down at another chair opposite Link. "Those two men were among them, and they've all agreed that the darkness that was infesting the Lost Woods and creeping into Faron has faded. I assume that was your doing?"

Link nodded, and started taking off his ripped and torn tunic. Mica frowned as he saw the bandages and gashes in the man underneath.

"You look horrible," he muttered, and link nodded, looking over his tunic, which he had forgotten to check while he stayed with his friends. "What happened to you?" Link shrugged.

"Bloodthirsty monsters, undead skeleton hordes, and ghost assassins made by Ganondorf himself to kill me," Link replied, looking over his damaged tunic. "The usual." Mica chuckled, and Link set the tunic down on the table.

"So, what are you going to do next?" he asked, and Link paused, thinking.

"First, sleep," he replied, and smiled. "Then, I find another Temple and kick Ganondorf's rear again."

"Goddesses be with that," Mica replied, and he stood up, walking across the room toward a hearth. he picked up a steaming pot hanging over the fire, and poured two cups of hot tea. Link took the offered cup, wincing at the heat of the drink, but enjoying it all the same.

"I think you pushed yourself too hard this time," Mica replied as he sat down again, and nodded toward the wounds and tears in the warrior's fabric and clothing. "You weren't even fully healed from that Bokoblin ambush when you ran off." Link waved it away with a dismissive gesture, but Mica pressed on.

"Look, you don't have to tell me for me to see the blindingly obvious," he replied. "You're still pale and you've got injuries on you that would have killed stronger men. I'm not sure how you survived, but you came within a hair's length of death out there, didn't you?" Link frowned and remained silent, but his expression told Mica volumes.

"You're damned stubborn, and you can't count on whatever saved you in that Temple to help you again," he continued. "You should show a bit more caution in the future." Link sighed, and Mica looked away, hoping he'd gotten through the boy's thick skull. Why did the Goddesses chose someone so stubborn and bull-headed for this job?

"Look, Link," Mica said after a moment. "Stay here in Ordon for a while and get some real rest. I'll have my men poke around and see if we can dig up some more information for you in the meantime."

Link sighed, sipping on the tea again, and agreed.

* * *

The next day, Link had gotten up and started walking around Ordon, to see this place for himself. 

The village was peaceful, but far from quiet, with the constant howls and baying of the goat herds and the laughter of children. Link wandered among the villagers, offering polite words to them whenever they waved and greeted him, but he kept his distance, both physically and emotionally.

It was hard for him to reconcile the truth of who and what he was. Like these villagers, he was a Hylian. It made sense, but he still felt at home in the forest. As he walked through the village, Link paused, frowning at that thought.

No, that wasn't right. The fact that he _wasn't_ at home in the forest had become clear the more he'd lived in the Kokiri Forest. He was at ease in the woods, yes, but that was because they were familiar to him. In fact, he'd never truly felt at home anywhere . . . except when walking through the fields of Hyrule, heading for new and different places. The road had welcomed him, and he had gladly accepted it as he explored the vast, endless lands outside of his homeland.

Was that his home now? To not have a place to be at ease, to rest and relax and feel truly welcomed? Ordon was a friendly place, to be certain, and the sanctuary Mica and his men offered was welcome, but Link knew he couldn't stay here, and not just because of his quest to save Hyrule. He couldn't be bound to one place like this as he had been bound to his homeland for so much of his life.

It was as he walked through the southern parts of the village, around the pastures where the huge shaggy goats roamed, that Link heard a familiar voice. he started following the voice, and as he came around a barn, he ran headlong into a huge, balding Hylian man with a thick beard and even thicker waistline.

"Whoa there!" the man said as Link stumbled backward. "Easy boy, easy!" The voice and the shape of the huge Hylian man were immensely familiar, and as he looked over the figure, the memory clocked.

"Talon?" he asked, and the heavyset man paused, frowning, and looked over Link a second time. Talon's eyes - for i was the huge rancher who ran Lon Lon Ranch - widened after a moment.

"Link, my boy!" he shouted, laughing, and grabbed the swordsman, pulling him into a tight bear hug. His strength certainly hadn't diminished in the years that had passed. "its been, what? Seven years! You've gotten huge! I didn't even recognize you!"

Link gasped for breath after Talon released him, and managed a laugh.

"I didn't expect to see you here," he remarked, and Talon's smile faded. sensing something as wrong, Link waited for talon to explain.

"Yeah, I, uh," he said, and looked away. "Truth is, I . . . I lost the ranch, Link."

"What?" he asked, and Talon nodded.

"I don't know how he did it, but Ingo took over Lon Lon Ranch," Talon said. "Kicked me out. Renamed it 'Ingo Ranch' now. Heard he raises and sells horses to Ganondorf's armies now."

"What?" Link echoed, shocked by the news. "What about Malon?"

"She still works there," Talon replied with a sigh. "Sends me letters from time to time, but she says she won't abandon the horses and the cows to Ingo."

Link was silent, his mind working over this news. he remembered the surly disposition of the ranch hand when he had visited the place, and dreaded what might have happened since that man had taken over. And to hear that he was supplying horses to Ganondorf . . . .

Link knew he had to do something about this. These were his closest friends outside of his homeland, and he wouldn't let this continue. Giving Talon a quick goodbye, the swordsman hurried back toward Mica's house, galvanized by the prospect of doing something useful instead of waiting around for his body to heal.

Mica walked in on Link a short while later, as he was putting on his tunic and gathering up his gear. The Hylian soldier watched the swordsman for a moment before tapping on the wall to catch his attention.

"I heard from Talon," he remarked. "You're heading out again, aren't you?" Link grunted and nodded, and Mica sighed again.

"Listen I understand you want to help his daughter, but this is just like last time. You aren't fully rested and healed yet, and you're running headlong off on another possibly lethal adventure." Link paused, and looked up at Mica, frowning.

"Stay here for a few more days and heal," Mica remarked, his tone that of a concerned friend. He paused, and then smiled. "Besides, I have something you'll want to bring with you, and you might need that time to get used to it."

Curious, Link followed Mica as he headed back to the anteroom. On the table he spotted two objects: a vest that looked to be made of interlocking steel chain, and a heavy shield, like the ones he'd seen borne by Hylian knights and soldiers.

"After seeing you get so badly torn up, I figured you might want some added defense," the soldier explained, and held up the vest. "You don't look like the type to run around in full plate, but chain mail is much lighter and more flexible, and it'll keep you from being cut up like you've been thus far."

"Armor?" Link asked, curious, for he had never worn armor of any kind before. Link took the vest, peering over the armor, and after a moment's consideration he pulled off his outer green tunic and cap. The mail vest slipped over his head and settled onto his shoulders, and he tapped it with his knuckles. It was thin but solid, and he wasted no time twisting and bending over, testing its full flexibility.

"As you can see," Mica remarked as Link tried the armor, "Our blacksmiths are quite skilled. This armor should allow you your full range of movement with very little weight added on."

"It feels good," Link remarked, doing a couple of pushups. "Not heavy at all."

"It shouldn't weigh you down too much, and should be fairly inconspicuous underneath your outer tunic," the soldier added, and then hefted the shield. Link slid his outer tunic back on, and looked toward the heavy metal in Mica's hands as the soldier held it out to Link.

"Solid and reliable," he explained as the warrior took the shield. It was indeed heavy, but as Link slid it over his right arm, in the same manner as his old Deku-bark shield, he found it was relatively light and balanced, barely heavier than his old shield had been when he had been a child.

"Light enough that you can use it without trouble, but heavy enough to bash someone's face in," Mica replied with a grin, and Link nodded, moving his arm around with the shield in hand, finding he still had all the range of motion that he had once possessed with his wooden shield. As he did so, Mica grabbed a sheathed longsword and nodded outside.

"Want to practice?" he asked, and Link smiled, picking up the Master Sword and following the soldier outside.

* * *

His laughter resounded throughout the keep, and those who knew their dark master best took heart at that sound, for it signified his own greatest joy: to bend and twist energy and life to his own biddings. The joy of their master was the joy of his minions. 

The circle where the new creation was forming writhed and twisted, the enchanted inks and sigils showing a life all their own, reeling and struggling against the swarming darkness and mists in the heart of the circle. Ganondorf laughed as he felt the strands and shapes of energy and reality rotating and reshaping to his will, each passing moment making his creation more and more defined.

Ganondorf kept shifting his attention from his creation and a wall of runes and symbols that glittered in the air beside him, wreathed in dark energy. None except those versed in the deepest of arcane lore would recognize the sigils for what they truly were: the remaining echo of a flurry of powerful, negative emotions that Ganondorf had captured as he watched the battle in the Forest Temple's heart.

The hours passed, and the form before him took a more solid and defined shape. At long last, he heard the first cries of his greatest creation as life entered its unnatural body, screams of the emotions which he had built it around. The circle twitched and spasmed, and as he applied the finishing touches on his monstrous progeny, the circle broke.

It lashed out, a long blade forming from nowhere and stabbing toward Ganondorf. he leapt backward, laughing as he did so, for seeing his creation so vibrant and so savage filled him with joy. His own blasphemous sword appeared with a thought, and the blade crashed down atop his creation's weapon. Without pause, the huge Gerudo stepped forward and belted the young monstrosity across the face, hurling it back against the wall.

Wordlessly, the King of Evil raised his free hand and clenched it. Dark energy flowed over the creature, which twitched and screamed in agony, before Ganondorf released it. The thing stood up, glaring at him with eyes shining from the pits of hell, and he laughed, pleased.

"You know me!" he shouted, his voice causing the monster to recoil. After a moment, the thing dropped to its knees, understanding what it was and who had created it.

"I am Ganondorf," he declared, stalking toward his creation, and smiling. He lowered his hand, and the monster kneeled, jet black hair obscuring its face and those beautifully hellish eyes.

"I am your master," he stated, and the creature remained silent, contrite and submissive before his will. Ganondorf frowned, and turned, walking away, suddenly not satisfied with a minion that was so easily cowed, especially after its initial show of aggression.

There was movement, and he whirled, his sword reappearing, and the creation's blade rang out once again. Ganondorf's hand lanced out, closing over its face, and more darkness pulsed as he flexed his will. The monster's screams filled the room, and the King of Evil spun, flinging it across the chamber once more.

"Good!" he declared with a laugh as his creation smashed into the wall and fell tot he floor. Its sprang to its feet, snarling, its blade at the ready. "Good."

Ganondorf raised his hand and beckoned toward the wild, duplicitous beast, and his smile was wide and genuine.

"Show me what you can do," he said, and the dark echo of the Hero of Time's worst emotions and desires sprang across the room, blade flashing.

* * *

-

* * *

It took me a while to get this chapter done, as it was a lot of dialogue and plot exposition, which is something I'm not that good at writing. Not to mention that I was _tired_ after writing that last chapter. I tend to go through a cycle of writing and stopping and resting for a while, and then leaping back into typing once more when I feel my inspiration creeping back. Case in point, I wrote most of this chapter over a single day. 

This chapter was surprisingly long, as I had intended for Link to go to Lon Lon Ranch this chapter as well, but you can see how that turned out. But at least Link is now full armed with his usual complement of gear now. Expect some serious Spartan-style ass-kicking in the future. The most enjoyable part for me to write, however, was Link's brief bits of introspection. I know this may seem strange, but while writing this story, I didn't put a whole lot of conscious effort into developing Link's personality, and just went with what seemed natural for him to think and do, and this chapter was no exception.

Until next chapter . . . .


	17. Chapter XVI: Epona

_**Chapter XVI: Epona**_

They screamed and they died, and Ganondorf watched, smiling all the while. A black sword cleaved through their bodies, dancing around their defenses and stabbing deep or slashing hard. Limbs flew from torsos, dissolving into black ash with each stroke, and the lesser monsters fell one by one. They cast betrayed glances at their master, the King of Evil, as he watched them torn apart by his new creation, which showed every bit of the violence and skill that its forebear had exhibited.

The last of the Lizalfos, expendable creatures all of them, finally succumbed, its sword arm cleaved off and its head split by an overhead chop. The red-eyed creature that killed it tore its sword free, snarling as it did so, and turned toward its master, raising the black blade in a salute.

"You have done well, thus far," Ganondorf declared, nodding, and he could feel the pleasure and satisfaction flowing off of his creation at his praise. It was good that the creature knew who and what its master was, and that subservience pleased the King of Evil. It had taken hours to break the creature in, goading and fighting it until it had truly yielded before his strength, and now he had to keep molding it, manipulating the creation to its fullest potential.

"Observe," he declared, waving his hand, and a glimmering mist gathered before Ganondorf's hand. The creature rose and stepped beside him, looking into the mists as they shaped themselves into a portal, peering out over the vastness of Hyrule's fields. Rain was pouring down from slate-gray clouds, with lightning crackling across the skies overhead.

Amidst the fury of the storm was a single figure, clad in green, trudging across the grass and braving the fury of nature, a blue sparkle hiding within his cap.

"Do you know who this man is?" Ganondorf asked, and he looked down at his creation. The creature's eyes narrowed into fiery slits, and the King of Evil saw the base recognition in his minion's expression.

"From him, I found the framework for you," the Gerudo explained. "I waited until I found a moment where there was nothing in him but dark, base emotions, and I took that image of his soul, and built you around it." With a gesture, the image drew closer, and they could see the man's face as he faced the storm.

"All the weakness of his form was stripped away, leaving only the emotions and thoughts of strength and power to be built up into your shape," he continued, and he could feel the creature's pride growing at having such praise heaped on it. With a mental chuckle, Ganondorf chose that moment to strike.

"But, I wonder . . . ." he mused, turning away. "I had crafted a mighty ghostly warrior in a similar manner, and it proved too weak to be of use." Lies, of course, but effective ones. "That man slew it rather handily." He looked down, noting the seed of doubt and confusion in his new, young creation, and twisted the dagger already sliding into its mind.

"Will you show me any worth?" he asked, and the thing's eyes widened. "I saw such potential in my own phantom, and look what happened to it."

Fear started working its way into the creature, and Ganondorf knew that he was doing well. Now, he just needed to establish a focus. This was a creature formed of spite, hate, and anger, after all.

"He is a mighty warrior," the King of Evil added, gesturing to the magical image. "Perhaps . . . he has something you lack. A fundamental failing . . . ."

The creature snarled in refusal, shaking its head, still unable to speak languages yet. That would come later. As for that moment, Ganondorf saw the hatred and the seed of jealousy forming in the monster's heart, and he fed that.

"You, like all my creations, may be lacking in true perfection," he added, and looked away. "Perhaps I should never have bothered creating you. What good are useless minions created through flawed sorcery? Chattel or trash, to be thrown away when their usefulness has faded."

The snarls of fear and burning pride came again, and Ganondorf sneered, looking back at his desperate, horrified creature.

"Then prove you have actual worth, _trash_," he snapped, pointing. The doors to the chamber opened, and a half dozen Lizalfos rushed inside, hissing and snarling, blades in hand. The monster he had crafted whirled on the lizards, drawing its sword and letting out a cry of violence and fury.

Ganondorf smiled inwardly as his minion threw itself at the hapless Lizalfos, who had no chance against such perfection. While more subtle manipulation would have had a greater effect on humans, these blunt questions as to his servant's capability and worth served just fine to drive the thing to the depths of savagery Ganondorf wanted.

Let it continue down that path, driving itself ever further toward the perfection it so desperately wanted. With these seeds planted so early in its life, it would go to any length to prove its worth to its master and destroy the pathetic hero it had been shaped after.

The King of Evil looked away from his minion as he heard the screams and the harsh sounds of blades digging into flesh. His eyes fell on the magical window that peered across Hyrule, and a plan began to form in his mind. Perhaps, with this boy's return, others would emerge from hiding?

* * *

The rain poured down over his body, rolling down in sheets across the plains. His boots would have sunk into the mud, if there was any, but Link knew enough to keep to the tall grass in a rainstorm; the roots of the plants kept the soil together, preventing it from becoming the muddy morass that could cost a boy his boots. 

He'd expected the storm that morning, waking up to see distant dark clouds on the horizon. He'd been out and moving for a couple of days since arming up and leaving Ordon, heading northwest toward the ranch marked on his map. Water pinged off the heavy shield on his back and the portions of the chainmail he wore under his outfit; Mica had shown him how to keep the armor and shield polished and rust-free, which was useful when one considered Link knew nothing about maintaining metal. He was lucky the only metallic gear he had carried beforehand had been enchanted weaponry that didn't corrode.

Moving overland like this, with a rainstorm obscuring the sky and the plains lacking many landmarks, made it difficult to navigate. If he were going anywhere else, Link might have simply chosen to find a grove of trees somewhere on the fields and take shelter, but he was less than a day's walk away from Lon Lon Ranch now. More importantly, ever since he had heard the news from Talon, Link hadn't been able to really rest or relax; it had been all he could do to stay in Ordon for a few days to finish healing.

The storm continued to beat down upon him, but as he moved under its fury, Link could see something in the distance. Faint lights became visible through the pouring rain, and he worked his way forward, through the high grass.

"Navi, do you see that?" he asked, and he felt more than heard his partner's agreement.

"Lights," she replied, peering over the brim in his cap. "I think they're lamps from inside a house."

"Then we're going the right way," he muttered with a smile, and pushed ahead, ignoring the storm's furious insistence that he stay put.

Though he could see the lights in the distance, it seemed to take hours for them to get any closer as he trudged through the storm. Finally, after what felt like he had been pushing ahead all night long, Link finally got close enough that he could see the familiar stone and wooden walls of Lon Lon Ranch. He worked his way around the outside of the compound until he found the entrance on the east side. He hurried inside the slight bit of shelter the ranch offered, and headed for the large farmhouse that the small family had lived in.

Link didn't have much of an idea of what he was going to do now that he'd made it to Lon Lon Ranch. He still had no idea what was really going on, but he figured he would do what it took to set things right once again.

His knocking at the door was barely audible in the downpour and the wind, and it was several moments before it cracked open. Link found himself confronted with a tall, skinny man with a natty mustache and scowling eyes, clad in what looked like fine clothing. To Link, the outfit reminded him of the more prim and gaudily-dressed Hylians he'd seen as a child, and it looked quite ridiculous.

"Yes? Who is it?" the man grunted. "What do you want?"

Link immediately recognized the man, despite his odd clothing: he was Ingo, the surly ranch hand he had seen when he'd first come to the ranch long ago. It still felt like yesterday for the swordsman, but he knew Ingo certainly didn't recognize him.

"I was looking for shelter from the storm," Link said. It was true, more or less. Ingo's scowl deepened and his frown grew even more pronounced as he looked over the soaked, dirty vagabond that had stumbled onto his doorstep, and considered his request for a moment.

"Do you have money?" Ingo asked after a second, and Link nodded. Ingo frowned for a moment, and held out his hand.

"Fifteen rupees," he grunted. "And you'll have to stay in the barn, there isn't room for you here in the house." Link nodded, grateful for the shelter, and fished out the small gemstones. He handed them to Ingo, who peered over them suspiciously for a few seconds, as if he wasn't convinced that they were real, before nodding and pointing toward the barn.

"Knock on the door over there," he added, and then shut the farmhouse door without further ceremony. Link shrugged after a moment and made his way toward the looming barn across from the farmhouse. It seemed smaller than he remembered, but then again, the last time he'd been here he was half his current size. Link quickly found the door he was looking for and knocked on it. As before, it took a few moments for someone to respond. The door opened, and he caught a slender silhouette standing in the entrance.

"Yes?" came a woman's voice, soft and pleasant.

"I was looking for shelter from this storm," Link explained, and gestured back toward the house behind him. "The owner said to come over here after I paid him."

"He's making you stay in the barn?" came the reply, incredulous. "That _cheap_ . . . well, hurry on inside, before you drown out here!" The door widened, and Link hurried inside. For the first time in hours, he wasn't being hammered by heavy rains or wind, and water sloughed off his clothes and left a muddy trail behind him as he walked inside, welcomed by the amber light of a hearth in the middle of the barn. Various animals, including cattle and horses, stirred or slumbered in the stalls around the large room.

"Thank you," he offered, shaking his head slightly. He carefully took off his cap, as Navi was still resting inside, and ran a hand through his limp blond hair. He looked back toward the woman who had let him inside, and stopped, watching as she latched the side door shut once again.

What he first saw was the familiar shade of red hair, dropping down to the middle of her back, and as she turned toward him, he caught sight of the familiar blue eyes, which were set within the striking features of a young woman. They had a slightly mournful and tired cast to them, which marred the beauty that was even then leaving Link momentarily confused and stricken.

"Malon," he said, at a loss for words at how his old friend had changed over the years. She was a slender wisp of a woman, the top of her head barely reaching his eyes, and seemed delicate and fragile from the way she walked. She looked at him, her blue eyes showing her obvious confusion.

"Do I know you?" she asked, and Link hesitated to reply. However, he didn't need to answer, for at that moment, Navi poked her head out of the brim of his hat, and started floating out into the warm, dry air. Malon caught sight of the fairy, and then looked at Link, sudden recognition shooting over her face.

"A fairy?' she breathed, and looked over the swordsman anew. "Link?" He chuckled and nodded, and a smile sprang onto Malon's face. Then, to his complete surprise, she bounded forward and hugged him, hard, the strength in her arms showing that she was still as strong as he remembered her. For a moment, Link was uncertain how to reply, but then he reciprocated the hug, if only for a moment. The sensation was pleasant and familiar, reminding him of Saria in a way.

"Link!" she said, laughing, and pulled away, her clothes dampened by the rainwater that had soaked him. "Its been . . . how long _has_ it been?"

"Seven years," Link replied, and Malon shook her head, not sure if she could believe it had been so long since she'd last seen him. After a moment, she gestured toward the fire in the middle of the barn.

"Well, warm yourself up, you're shivering and soaked," she said, with a smile, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I got a little wet out there," he remarked, and Navi huffed as he took off his sword and shield.

"Too stubborn for his own good," she said, turning to Malon. "Walked headlong into the storm without ever slowing down!"

"You didn't try to stop me," Link replied as he took off his tunic, revealing the light suit of chainmail underneath. He doffed that as well, and started to take off the shirt underneath.

"You never listen to me anyway," Navi muttered as the swordsman pulled his shirt all the way off. Malon turned away, her face shifting to a color similar to that of her hair, and Link grinned, remembering how she'd reacted to something similar when he was a boy. Link finished stripping down to his trousers, taking off his boots, gauntlets, and socks.

"You got anywhere I can put these?" Link asked, and Malon turned back, before gesturing toward a line running across the barn, where some simple dresses were hanging. He frowned as he hung his clothes over them, wondering why Malon was keeping her clothes out here if she was staying in the farmhouse. Then he began to wonder why Malon was even out here in the barn in the first place at this time of night, and a slow realization struck him.

"You sleep out here in the barn?" Link asked, and Malon nodded as he sat down in front of the hearth.

"Mister Ingo prefers to keep the house all to himself," she replied, starting to turn back toward him. "But I don't mind much. I get to stay out here with the animals, and . . . ."

She trailed off, and he looked up, too see her staring at him, or rather, at his exposed and toned upper body, kept lean and in shape with all the fighting and exercise he went through. For a moment Link felt embarrassed himself, but then he realized that she wasn't looking at his muscles, but rather at the array of scars stretching across them. After a couple of seconds she became aware that he was looking back at her, and she turned away again.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been . . . ." she began, but he shook his head.

"Its alright," he replied. "I guess you're just not used to seeing them." She looked back at him, and a question seemed to be forming in her mind for a few moments, before she finally spoke.

"How did you get them?" she asked, concern appearing on her face as she stepped closer and sat down beside him. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"Napping, mostly," Link replied, and she frowned, lightly slapping his shoulder. Link managed a laugh, and wondered if she would actually believe him if he said he _had _been asleep for the last seven years.

"I've been . . . away, for the most part," he explained. "When I came back here, I saw what kind of state Hyrule had fallen into, and I decided to do something about it."

"All by yourself?" she asked, and he nodded, looking toward the fire for a moment. "That's crazy. _You're_ crazy, but I guess that hasn't changed at all." Link managed a chuckle at that, and looked back toward her, to find honest concern in her expression as she considered him. He found the feeling to be familiar and comforting; Saria had always been concerned for his safety and well-being too.

The similarities between the Hylian farm girl and his childhood Kokiri friend were striking, and he looked away before they could bring up more painful and very recent memories.

There was a quiet snort behind him, and Malon looked up, before rising and crossing the room toward one of the stalls. He watched her go, and heard her whispering soothingly to one of the horses. After a few seconds, she started to sing quietly, the formless and peaceful vocal melody that he'd heard so long ago. As the song carried on, Link reached over toward one of his pouches and took out the Ocarina of Time. He closed his eyes, remembering the song, and raised the instrument to his lips.

Malon didn't notice the higher-pitched tones of the Ocarina for a few moments, but then halted her song, looking toward her old friend as he played. She listened to the echo of her own melody, the one her mother had taught her before she'd died many years ago, and heard a slightly mournful tone in the way he played. There was a striking degree of melancholy in how he reproduced her song, and it had nothing to do with the ocarina's sound. The girl found herself wondering what he'd really gone through, and her eyes drifted to the armor, sword, and shield he bore, and the scars that he had so easily dismissed.

After listening for a few more moments, she started singing again, and looked back toward the mighty russet mare she had been comforting. The large, soft black eyes of the mare peered back up at her as she settled back down into her bed of straw.

The ocarina's tones grew stronger, and Malon looked up to see Link walking toward her, still playing the song. Finally, as the mare finished settling down and returned to sleep, she ended her part of the duet, and Link did so as well.

"You still remember the song I taught you?" Malon asked, and Link nodded.

"Like it was yesterday," he replied, masking the truth of his words as best he could. He peered over the powerful horse, and looked closely at her features.

"Is that . . . Epona?" he asked, and Malon nodded.

"Didn't I tell you she was the strongest horse we had?" she asked, and he nodded, amazed by how huge the mare had grown in the last few years. When he'd been a boy, she was a tiny foal, even smaller than himself, but now she'd grown into a huge, proud horse.

"I'd hate to see what Ganondorf will do to her," Malon said after a few moments, he voice low and regretful.

"What?" Link asked, and Malon nodded.

"Ingo raises horses for Ganondorf's army now," she replied, sighing quietly. "He promised to give Ganondorf the mightiest horse he had for the King of Evil's personal mount, and Epona is the one he's planning to sell."

"I can't let that happen," Link muttered, shaking his head, and she looked up toward him.

"What do you mean?" she asked, and Link paused.

"I . . . I met your father in Ordon a few days ago," he explained. "He told me about what had happened to the ranch, and I knew I had to do something about it." Malon looked toward the roof of the barn, where the rain was still pouring down heavily all around the ranch.

"Is that why you went through this storm?" she asked. "To get here?" Link nodded.

"Like Navi said, I'm not that good at listening to sound advice," he replied with a shrug. "And I came here to do something about this mess."

"Ingo owns the ranch now, legally," Malon explained, shaking her head. "Or at least, as legally as it gets with Ganondorf in charge. And he sells horses to Ganondorf."

"Which is why I have to stop him," Link responded. He looked down at the sleeping mare. "At the very least, I have to save Epona. I'm not going to let her become Ganondorf's mount, even if I have to steal her from the ranch." Malon's eyes widened, and she hesitated for a moment. Then, to Link's complete surprise, she smiled.

"I don't think you'll need to do that," she replied, and looked back toward Epona.

"Ingo prides himself on being a great horse racer," she continued. "And he also loves to gamble on his own skill as a horse racer; he likes to bet a horse against its value in Rupees, and he usually wins. But he's never been able to tame Epona, like me." She looked up at Link.

"But, I don't have the money to even try to bet on a horse race," she explained. "Otherwise I would have wagered everything I had to free Epona."

"I have plenty of money," Link replied, and walked back over to the hearth. He picked up his bulging wallet and opened it for her. "Will this be enough to buy a horse? Even Epona?" She nodded, amazed by how much money he had stuffed in his wallet.

"He won't sell Epona, but I'm pretty sure he'd bet her against her value in a horse race," Malon said with a mischievous smile. "After all, he probably thinks you can't tame her anyway."

"Is there a trick to taming her?" Link asked, to which Malon shook her head.

"Epona loves the song my mother taught me," she explained. "All the farm animals here respond to it, but Mister Ingo never realized that. Play that song, and Epona will relax long enough for you to convince her to let you ride her. Its a secret I kept from him all these years, just in case."

"Then tomorrow morning, we're going to set Epona free," Link said, but then paused. "Except, I can't ride a horse."

"I'll handle that," Malon replied, patting him on the shoulder. "If you take to the saddle like you take to a sword, you'll be a master in no time."

* * *

The next morning, they rose early and got Epona outside. There was a racing track outside one of the many pastures and corrals, and Malon ran Link trough the basics, while he quietly played the soothing melody that kept the wild horse calm. Within minutes, Link was up in the saddle, and was learning the basics, such as how to guide the horse through verbal commands, the reins, and subtle pressure from his knees against her flanks. 

"Riding a horse isn't just you guiding her through brute force," Malon explained as she walked with him. "You have to remember that you're both living creatures, so you have to work together. Its a partnership, between you and your mount, and you have to respect your horse if you want her to listen to you." Link nodded, scratching Epona behind her ears as they walked, and she snorted appreciatively.

Once he got the basics of balance and guiding Epona down, he began to move her along at faster paces, eventually bursting into a full gallop.

"You have to be careful when Epona is going fast!" Malon called after him. "She loves running fast, but she's hard to control when she gets her blood up like that!"

The morning wore on, and Link began to really understand how to ride Epona, and how to listen to and feel her underneath him, and respond appropriately. Eventually, as he was finally coming to understand her, and she was warming up to him and trusting him as her rider, Ingo emerged from the farmhouse. The mustached owner of the ranch wore fine, pompous clothes, and he watched curiously as Link moved around the track on his mount.

"Well, if it isn't the traveler from last night," he called. "Getting some horse training in?"

"Yeah," Link called slowing down.

"Did he pay the training fee?" Ingo asked, and Malon nodded, handing him a fistful of rupees. The owner took them, counting them, and then nodded.

"Looks fine, then," he said. "Just don't wear out my horse."

"Actually, about that," Link said, coming around and stopping next to Ingo. "I heard you liked to bet horses on races."

"Sometimes," Ingo replied, and then chuckled. "What, you think that just because you've figured out how to ride without being thrown out of the saddle that you can race now?" Link's nod made Ingo chuckle again.

"Fine then!" He glanced toward Malon. "Girl, go fetch me a horse. Moonshine will do." Malon nodded and hurried off toward the barn, flashing Link a wide, conspiratorial smile.

"So, you're going to try to race me with . . . Epona?" Ingo frowned, and then burst out laughing. "You must be new to horse racing if you think you can even control that one at high speeds! She'll throw you out of the saddle first chance she gets."

"Something this wild must not be worth much, then," Link replied, and Ingo hesitated, coughing.

"You'd be surprised, kid," he said quickly. "Four hundred." Link's eyes widened.

"That's crazy," he muttered, shaking his head. Ingo snorted.

"Four hundred is the average worth of your usual horse, and I'm being generous, as that one is a prize horse, even if she is wild," he responded bluntly. Link finally shrugged, agreeing, and as he did so, Malon returned, with a horse already saddled. Ingo quickly climbed on its back.

"So, four hundred if you win, and the horse if I win," Link said loudly enough for Malon to hear, and Ingo nodded.

"Twice around the corral," he said, pointing at the gate. "First one to pass the near post at the gate on the second lap wins." Link nodded, and the two riders moved their horses next to the gate. Ingo pointed toward Malon.

"Girl, you signal when we go, understood?" She nodded, and Link frowned, noticing that he had never used her given name.

Malon raised a hand into the air, and both men tensed in their saddles. Link reached forward and scratched Epona's ears for an instant, and the horse snorted appreciatively. He could feel the mare's muscles tense, as if she knew what was about to happen.

Malon's hand fell, and they leapt from the starting line.

It was no contest.

Ingo's Moonshine was a swift horse, but something possessed Epona as they jumped from the line, and in an instant she was showing her full backside to a stupefied Ingo. With a snarl, Ingo rushed to catch up, then he laughed as he realized that the impetuous young rider couldn't hope to control Epona at such speeds. He would likely get flung from the saddle in seconds at the hands of the wild horse.

But as the seconds wore on, and they rounded the corral, Ingo watched in shock as the boy not only remained seated on the horse, but gained speed, opening up the distance between the two. By the time they finished the first lap, Link had opened up a huge lead that Ingo had no hope of breaking, and with a snarl of anger, Ingo began to suspect that there was more at work here. There was no way he had tamed Epona like that . . . was there?

The second lap ended with Ingo a full ten seconds behind Link, and as he came around, he was shouting in anger and denial, refusing to accept what had just happened, even as Link pumped his fist in the air in triumph, and Malon cheered at the stunning victory.

"I win!" Link said, turning toward Ingo, grinning at his victory. The look of fury on the man's face was quite gratifying.

"No, no, no, no _no no!_" Ingo shouted, pointing accusingly at Link. "You cheated! You had to! No one can tame Epona like that! This bet is off!"

Ingo spun around, leaping off his horse and running for the gates leading out of the ranch. Link watched, incredulous, and looked toward Malon, who stared in blank amazement at the ranch owner's response. They'd been expecting him to be angry, but this was something completely off the wall.

Then, as Link watched, Ingo ran around to the other side of the gates and slammed the barred iron shut.

"You are not leaving this ranch with that horse!" he proclaimed with an air of triumph, and Link's jaw dropped open.

"He is not serious," he muttered, looking down at Malon, whose only response was to continue to stare, dumbfounded. Neither of them had expected Ingo to completely renege on his own bet.

"Well," Malon said after a moment, looking up toward Link, not certain what to do. "What happens now?"

"I'll be a Stalfos before he lets that little gate keep us in here," Link replied, and trotted Epona toward the gate. Ingo glared at them from behind it, sneering with glee at his apparently clever twist. Link said nothing as he neared, instead dismounting and stepping up toward the gate.

"I'll let you out, but I won't let you leave with _my _horse," the man shouted through the bars, thumbing his mustache.

"Epona is coming with me, whether you like it or not," Link replied, and Ingo scoffed.

"If you think I'll let a cheater like you run off with my prize horse like that-"

"I won the bet, fairly," Link shot back, stepping close to the bars. Ingo mirrored his action, and they were almost nose to nose. "Malon is a witness."

"You think I care what Talon's little slut of a daughter saw-"

Link's eyes widened, and Ingo stopped speaking as he saw the shift in the swordsman's expression. He had only a heartbeat to realize that he'd crossed a very dangerous line, and then Link's left hand shot up, through the bars, and grabbed him by his collar.

"_What _did you just call her?" Link snarled, fury appearing on his face. Ingo recoiled, or rather, tried to, but the swordsman's grip was tight and unyielding. The ranch owner tried to flub out a desperate apology when Link yanked his arm back, and Ingo's forehead smashed into the iron gate with a musical _toonk_.

"I-I-I didn't mea-"

_Toonk._

"I'm sorry, I-"

_Toonk._

Ingo shook his head and tried to speak again.

_Toonk._

Ingo stopped talking, and Link released him. The well-dressed man toppled to the ground, and without another word, the swordsman reached down and fished out the man's keys. The gate swung open a moment later, and Link mounted up on the back of Epona. Ingo started crawling away, looking back up with an array of red bumps appearing on his forehead, and gave Link a baleful glare, which he shrugged off. Behind them, Malon ran up beside Link, and looked down at Ingo, not sure what had just happened.

"Wait, what did he say?"

"Nothing," Link replied, and his fury melted away as he looked back down at Malon. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine," she replied with a smile that boosted Link's spirits. "You just be sure not to get yourself killed out there, okay?"

"No promises," Link replied with a grin. "Epona! Let's go!" He tugged on the reins, and the mare reared back, letting out a mighty whinny, and then bolted forward, blasting out of the ranch and leaving a sputtering Ingo coughing in a cloud of dust.

Seconds later, the field of Hyrule stretched out before them, and the pair bolted across the vast, swaying fields of green and gold, the wind at their backs and a grander adventure ahead of them.

* * *

-

* * *

I apologize for how long it took to do this chapter. Personally, I blame Halo 3 for making it last a good two weeks longer than necessary.

One problem I had when going into this chapter was the simple fact that the majority of the chapter was single long conversation between Link and Malon. As anyone who's read my author commentaries before knows, I have a problem with writing conversations like this, and I usually wait until I have the sudden inspiration to write the whole thing down in a single flash of typing, much like this chapter; the majority of it was written three weeks after the rest of it, and over a four hour period.

Also, I apologize for the shortness of the horse race; I tried my darndest to write it in such a way that it would be interesting to read, but it simply didn't work, and it was dull and uninteresting and felt like it was getting long and drawn out, even by my standards, so I axed much of it and cut it down to primarily the before-and-after moments, which were what really mattered.

Next chapter, expect some more Gorons and a whole lot of _fire._

Until next chapter . . . .


	18. Chapter XVII: On A Crimson Horse

_**Chapter XVII: On a Crimson Horse**_

Ganondorf raised a hand, waving his fingers absently, and the last of the train of messengers bowed before scurrying away. Though he could easily peer in on any part of his realm, the King of Evil preferred to not waste his time and energy when underlings could relay him news from the unimportant parts of his dominion. One as important as the King of Evil could not be bothered with personally looking upon the petty needs of every village, especially when he had far greater issues drawing his attention.

Once he was left alone in the comforting amber light of his throne room, Ganondorf slowly stood, stretching his arms and legs. He flexed more than muscles, however, magic rippling around him as he sent off a quick series of orders to his soldiers and commanders scattered across Hyrule in response to whatever news his servants had delivered him. Within minutes, his messaging spells had addressed his kingdom, and he shifted his attention to more important matters.

Ganondorf's hand rose, and a portal surged into existence before him, showing another part of the castle. He spent only a minute watching what was happening on the other side, the grunts and moans making him chuckle, and then the sorcerer closed the image. His latest creation had done well over the last few days, showing its rage and hidden fears quite well, but to truly engender loyalty, one needed more than raw intimidation; one needed to reward one's servants. The lithe, deadly warrior women of the Gerudo knew many more uses for their agility and dexterity aside from killing, and his creation was quite enjoying that skill.

Soon, Ganondorf decided, he would prepare the ultimate test for his new servant, and the creature would gladly accept that final trial.

That thought brought Ganondorf's mind back to the present, and he quickly summoned his personal guards, and ordered them to not allow anyone into his chambers under any circumstances. With that peace guaranteed, the King of Evil sat down on his throne once more and focused his mind, stretching out with his magic, his seeking eyes cutting across the realm.

He searched the width and breadth of Hyrule for a long while, and finally, in the eastern reaches of the kingdom, he spotted the familiar, green-clad boy and that accursed sword he bore. He frowned as his eyes fell on the kid, and Ganondorf was surprised to see him ridding a huge, majestic horse, virtually flying across the grassy plains on the animal's back. When did he get that proud creature?

Ganondorf dismissed it, and pulled his eyes away, searching for where the boy seemed to be headed. As soon as he determined the boy's intention, his frown deepened. The last thing he wanted was for that kid to start waving his sword around in a place he had a vested interest in suppressing. He pulled out again, searching for the familiar shroud that hung over his minions. Within minutes, he found a nearby patrol group, and sent them new orders with a single thought. With that done, Ganondorf pulled back to his own body, and scowled.

He doubted they would be able to defeat the skilled warrior, but at the very least they would delay the "hero" and give his soldiers and servants time to break the back of the most dangerous part of that stubborn loyalist resistance.

* * *

Beneath him, between his legs, he felt movement. His body went up and down in time to the rhythm of movement, her hooves clattering against the solid earth beneath her feet. He swept his eyes left and right, taking in rolling hills, stretching out as far as the eye could see in all directions, a vastness that he had become intimately familiar with over the last few days. The wide, darkened gray sky spread above him, slowly lightening as dawn began to bless the awakening world. 

Link continued to ride, his mount never slowing as she galloped across the landscape. Epona's stamina was something beyond what he'd imagined she was capable of, and indeed, beyond what he'd heard Malon speak of regarding Hylian horses in general. He was blessed to have found her when he did, and he never imagined that he'd be cutting across Hyrule so swiftly.

And the _feelings_! There was something exhilarating in cutting loose, setting Epona into a furious gallop across the plains, to see the grass whip past, the air blowing against his face as she carried him on tireless legs. His heart lifted into the heavens as they rode across the hills and plains, and a genuine smile, not unlike the one he'd worn as a child, spread across his features.

They'd cut across the countryside almost nonstop for the last few days, first swinging by Ordon. Talon had been out in one of the goat ranches, and the moment he spotted the horse Link rode in on, he'd been overcome with joy. The news about the ranch and his daughter's condition, along with the stern grounding Ingo had received, put Talon's heart at ease, and the big jolly rancher finally seemed to be the happy man Link knew once again.

Mica, on the other hand, had no news regarding Princess Zelda.

"Sorry," he said as they sat down inside the soldier's house, pouring Link a fresh cup of tea. The aromatic steam filled the air as they spoke. "We haven't gotten any word from her lately. We've been hoping that your return might bring her out of hiding for a bit, but we're reluctant to spread news of your appearance beyond this village."

"Ganondorf already knows I'm back," Link replied, shaking his head. "It won't do much good to hide it. Besides the more people believe that there's someone out there who is able to fight Ganondorf openly, the more people will try to stand up against him." Mica nodded, and then frowned.

"Wait," he said, thinking. "I heard that you were a friend of the Gorons at Death Mountain, correct?" Link nodded. "I've heard that the villagers at Kakariko had joined forces with Darunia's tribe of Gorons at Death Mountain. A lot of soldiers and Castle Town civilians fled to Kakariko following the invasion, and they're being led by that woman who used to be the Princess' personal bodyguard."

"Impa?" Link asked, surprised he hadn't been told about this before. Mica nodded.

"I don't think there's any place better suited for a hero like you than in the heart of what real resistance we're able to muster nowadays," he added.

And thus, Link was riding northeast across Hyrule, making good time toward Kakariko. An easterly wind was at his back, pushing him onward, as if the Goddesses themselves were speeding the swordsman toward his goal.

As the sun continued to rise, Link had slowed the aggressive gallop to a leisurely trot, giving Epona a needed rest. The landscape was rougher and more rugged here, so slowing down a bit was more prudent, at least until he got better at riding Epona. As they climbed the hill, Navi ranged out ahead of Link, flying over the crest and keeping an eye open for threats. As they walked up the hill, Link slowed, sensing something was wrong, and peered up at Navi, to find she had halted at the top of the hill.

"What do you see, Navi?" Link asked. Epona shuffled nervously, sensing the anticipation in the air.

"Something is moving toward us," she whispered after a moment, and began to rise into the air. She stopped after a moment, and then dove back down toward him.

"Bokoblin raiders!" she warned, and Link's eyes widened.

"Where?" he asked, drawing his bow off his back.

"East, between us and Kakariko," she replied. "I counted a bunch of them, maybe fifteen or so, and closing fast from the other side of those hills." Link frowned, looking around for a defensible position. He remembered the last time he'd encountered mounted Bokoblins, and he doubted he'd have the timely intervention of Hylian soldiers to save him again. He was going to have to fight this one on his own.

Link paused, looking up to Navi, and then down to his new companion, Epona, waiting tensely. The horse was unusually intelligent, sensing the anxiety in Link and Navi's exchange. She turned her head, looking up at Link, and he met her eyes. After a moment, he patted her on the side of the head, and then turned his eyes up toward Navi as he drew an arrow.

"Navi, get ready," he warned, and then snapped his feet together against Epona's flank, sending her running up the hill before them. As the mare galloped up the rise, Link reached back and took his shield in hand, the metal heavy but not enough to weight down his aim.

"We're going to fight them?" the fairy asked as she kept pace with him, and he nodded. He brought Epona to a halt at the top of the hill, and looked to the east. The arrow slid into the string of his bow, and he drew it back as a distant group of dark shapes thundered across the hills. The shield on his right arm was heavy, extended but like this, but he found that it did little to affect his aim, either through his own strength or the magic of the bow he carried.

"Guide my shots, Navi, just like you did in the Forest Temple," he told her, and Navi bobbed in affirmation. Her blue light bolted across the hills, and he tracked her as she did so, his bow following her movement with ease as she moved near the closest rider. He tracked the movement of his enemies, shifting his aim, and let fly.

The bow sang, and the arrow streaked across the clear air. Link didn't instantly see the results, for he was drawing another arrow, but heard a distant peal of agony over the thunder of approaching hooves. He nocked and drew the arrow, and as he searched for another target, he saw one boar missing its rider, the dead Bokoblin now a cloud of billowing ash.

He let his next arrow free, and saw it strike another rider in the chest, the green-skinned monster toppling backward off its saddle as Link readied another arrow. He spotted Navi's light, and felt his arm move, almost of its own accord, tracking his next foe. The enchanted bow sang once more, the arrow lancing out and taking one of the boars in the eye. The monster stumbled and fell, hurling both its rider and the archer accompanying it to the ground.

They were getting close now, and Epona was stamping the ground, eager to move. Link greed with her assessment, and rather than continue firing, he slung the bow over his shoulder and shouted, snapping his ankles against her flanks. She bolted forward as his left hand shot down to his side and pulled the enchanted boomerang out of its spot on his belt. He sighted another foe and let fly, then quickly reached up over his shoulder and drew the Master Sword. The spinning wedge smashed into its target, flinging a Bokoblin from its mount, and Link thundered at the raiders' formation, which had broken apart with the sudden barrage of lethally accurate arrows. Return fire from a smattering of archers on a few of the mounts whizzed past Link, completely missing the swordsman.

Link veered as he thundered toward the mass of surprised raiders, and picked out a pair of the boar riders on the edge of the group. With a faint bit of pressure with his knees, Epona wheeled on that pair, and Link raised the Master Sword. The Bokoblins howled in savage glee, swinging their axes as Link closed in. The raider on Link's right found the weapon ringing dully off his shield, while the one on Link's left screamed in agony before its axe could fall, the Master Sword chopping through its flank. The creature fell off its mount, consumed by dark fire, and Link rode on for several seconds before turning on his foes.

A warning from Navi touched him, and he snapped up his shield in time to deflect another arrow. He could hear the sound of his boomerang arcing back toward him, and the swordsman caught it with his raised shield arm as the raiders wheeled on the swordsman, a confused mess of riders, mounts, and archers, and in that moment of disarray, Link sheathed his sword and readied his bow, taking aim once more. Navi's guidance drew his aim toward one of the Bokoblin archers, and he let fly again, scoring a lethal hit to the monster's throat as it drew an arrow of its own.

The Bokoblins were trying to gather into something resembling a coherent formation, and Link took advantage of the delay. His bow sang again, and another archer reeled, collapsing and burning away as the enemy rushed at Link anew, now a tight, solid group of warriors thundering at their prey.

With a shout to Epona and a snap of his ankles, he charged them again, the horse whinnying as she galloped toward the attackers. The Master Sword replaced Link's bow as he advanced on the enemy, and he angled his approach, selecting a pair of Bokoblins on the left edge of the formation. His shield rose as he drew near, for one of the riders carried a spear, and was thrusting it at Link as they clashed. The shaft smashed against the swordsman's shield, shaking his right arm as the Master Sword parried another warrior's sword and cleaved through the monster's flank. The swordsman punched out with his shield arm as he passed the spear wielder, and was rewarded with a savage impact against the monster's jaw, launching it from its mount.

As they passed, Link came around, and spotted a number of foes he had knocked out of their saddles. The Bokoblins were trying to chase down their boars, and he knew he couldn't let them mount up once again. As their riding comrades came around once more to address their enemy, Link and Epona dashed around the field, smashing the dismounted warriors into the dirt or cleaving them with relentless ride-by slashes. He managed to bring down several of the hapless monsters, dismissing the brutal necessity of his attacks, and turned to face the remaining riders, whose numbers had been cut in half by the passing exchanges of sword and bow. They were looking back and forth at one another, uncertain in the face of so deadly and vicious an opponent, but after a moment's pause, they started toward Link once more, loosing battle cries as they advanced.

Link started toward them once more, grinning tightly. At this rate, he would have broken the enemy raiders in a few more passes. Then his smile vanished as one of the creatures shouted something, and the monsters' formation suddenly broke apart, the Bokoblins fanning out to envelop Link on all sides. For a heartbeat, Link considered how to respond, and then whirled, picking out one of his enemies - an archer/rider pair - and charged straight toward them. The Bokoblins were taken aback at his unexpectedly aggressive response, and by the time either monster began to raise their weapons, Link was charging past, the Master Sword cleaving through the rider and hurling the archer off the back of the boar. The swordsman turned Epona around as the archer rolled to its feet, and to his surprise, the horse reared up on her hind legs.

The unfortunate creature managed to look up just in time to take both of Epona's front hooves in the face, pulverizing its skull and launching its body through the air, dissipating into ash before it touched the ground.

"Good job!" Link shouted with a laugh at Epona's unexpected attack, and then raised his shield as Navi's warnings touched him again. An axe rang against the metal barrier as two of the riders tried to flank him, and the Master Sword parried a stabbing spear from his left. The holy sword thrust through an opening left by the spear-wielding Bokoblin, and it screamed in agony as the weapon plunged into its chest. Link's shield flew up at the same moment, smashing into the axe-wielder's face, and as it reeled from the stunning impact, the Master Sword cleaved through its skull.

He could hear hoof beats all around him, and Navi's warnings filled his mind as Link turned, deflecting another arrow with his shield and parrying an axe with the Master Sword. Link retaliated, splitting the throat of the axe wielder, and turned Epona to face two more charging riders. A spear clashed against his shield as he blocked another sword swing, and the Master Sword hacked left and right in rapid succession, disemboweling one monster and decapitating the other.

Silence filled the air, broken only by the pounding hooves of the few remaining riders as they realized just how in over their heads they really were. They had seen the ferocity and skill of their opponent, and began to flee, leaving riderless boars and clouds of ash floating in the air as Link stood victorious atop his steed. He pumped his sword arm in the air, raising the Master Sword high, and let out a roar of triumph.

The moment of victory was short-lived, however. Link watched the remnants of his enemy fleeing over the hills, and for a moment, he considered letting them go. Even as he thought of that option, however, the swordsman realized that letting these creatures escape to report what they'd encountered could have dire consequences. It was bad enough that the enemy already knew of his presence; anything about his weapons, his equipment, or Epona that the surviving monsters could report to their master was a potential vulnerability Ganondorf might be able to exploit.

Sheathing his blade, Link tapped Epona with his ankles, and the mare began to gallop after the fleeing Bokoblins. With grim determination, the swordsman drew and raised his bow, nocking an arrow. Link cursed the ugly necessity that his burden had forced upon him as he sighted another foe and let fly, the arrow streaking into the monster's back.

* * *

The landscape of the Eldin Province was much as Link remembered it, though it passed by far more swiftly with Epona carrying him through the hills. The deep ravines and rivers that he had crossed over before flew past, and as the day rolled on, he found himself nearing the steep cliffs that marked the approach to the village of Kakariko. 

As Link drew close to the cliffs that flanked the secluded village, he slowed, for instead of the simple gates he had once seen, heavy fortifications of wood and stone blocked the narrow passage. A group of armed men stood at the entrance, some clad in chainmail armor, while others wore simple civilian clothes. One man, who Link took to be the leader judging by the plume on his helmet, held up a hand as he drew near the gate.

"State your business," the guard said as Link came to a halt. For a moment, the swordsman considered what to say, before finally settling on the blunt and direct.

"I'm here to meet with Impa," he replied, and the guard's eyes widened underneath the brim of his helm. He glanced back toward his men, and Link knew that he'd probably caught them off-guard. Another soldier hurried up to their leader and they spoke in whispered tones, before the subordinate nodded. As he turned to move toward the gate, Link had an idea.

"Wait," he called, and the man paused. The swordsman tapped the side of his cap, and Navi poked her head up out of the cap, mumbling after being awoken so suddenly. "Come on out, Navi," he coaxed, and she floated up into the air, muttering under her breath. She was tired after the battle against the Bokoblins, and didn't spare Link any of her irritation.

The soldiers looked up at the fairy in surprise and awe, and Link took that to be a good sign.

"Tell Impa about my friend, too," he added, pointing to Navi. "She'll understand." The soldier nodded after a moment's stare at the fey, and then hurried through the gate. Navi settled on Link's shoulder, venting a little bit more about how tired she was, but deciding to remain visible to the troops.

They waited for only a few minutes, before the soldier returned, and following him was a familiar red-eyed, white-haired woman. Her gaze flicked over Link as she sized up the swordsman, and he met her eyes, noting the familiar hardness and wisdom he remembered when he'd first encountered the Shiekah. She seemed older, her shoulders bent slightly as if from a heavy burden, and Link sympathized.

After a few seconds, the Shiekah nodded, and gestured toward the gate.

"It has been a while," she offered, a slight smile forming on her face, and she gestured toward the gate. "Come inside." Link followed, dismounting from Epona as they entered. He had no idea if the Hylians considered it disrespectful to ride on a horse through a village, so he followed his gut instinct. Once on the other side of the gateway, he found himself walking into the village, nestled within the protective cliffs high overhead.

Link remembered the village undergoing some construction seven years ago, but he was surprised to see how large Kakariko had grown as he had slept. As he walked with Impa, he could see a bustling town of stone and wooden structures, with many more people than he had remembered from the last time he had been here. Children gathered around the pair and the tall mare as they worked their way through the town, gawking at the swordsman and his steed and barraging Link with questions. They reminded him of his own friends from his homeland, but before the flock could bury Link under their weight of curiosity, Impa scattered them with a few firm but gentle words.

"This place has gotten bigger," Link remarked, not sure how the village had swelled in size over time. The Kokiri village he had lived in had always stayed roughly the same size, and he had no real understanding of the demographics of Hylian towns. Impa noticed his curious confusion.

"Kakariko is where many of the soldiers from the castle city fled after the fall," she explained. "The terrain is defensible, and the proximity of the Goron tribes of Death Mountain makes it a good place to retreat to. There are also . . . spiritual reasons for coming here."

Link nodded as she spoke, letting her continue to explain as they left Epona at the village stable. The mare didn't seem to like the fact that Link was going away, but he spoke some reassuring words into her ear, the same way Malon had, and the wild steed seemed to calm down.

"This village has always been a place of mysticism," she continued as they passed a large freshwater spring. She gestured toward the feature as they passed. "Legend has it that the spring there, for example, is the home of a guardian deity who protects the lands of Eldin. There are also . . . other hidden secrets of this place. For many centuries, it was actually hidden, for it was the home of my own tribe, and we worked in secret from this place."

The swordsman blinked, and he looked around the village. He found it hard to believe that such a populous place had been the home of people like Impa and Sheik.

"Of course," she added with a wistful smile, "The Shiekah dwindled as a people. Some broke away from the tribe, others fell defending the Royal Family or dispatching their enemies. The peace that often ruled over Hyrule was often bought with the blood of the Shiekah. We were never large in our numbers, and eventually, we scattered when our we became to few. When the pact between the Hylians and the Gorons of Death Mountain was sealed, the village we had once lived in was opened as a trading post between the Gorons and Hyrule. Now, it is the last bastion of what Hyrule once stood as."

They had been ascending a series of inclines as she explained the village's history, and stopped as a stone house set near one of the cliff walls, at a high a position where it could look over the entire village.

"Come inside," Impa said, as she opened the door. "This is my house. It has been around since the village was first built, many centuries ago." Link followed her inside, to find a modest interior to the house, with wooden floors and furniture, all of it well-worn. Impa seemed to care little for ornamentation; with the exception of a few sculptures depicting the bleeding eye symbol of the Shiekah tribe, there was little decoration within the house. Impa walked over to a hearth and took out a pot of a steaming liquid, and poured a couple cups of it, offering one to Link. he took it and sniffed it, then sipped it, frowning.

"What's this?" he asked, taking another sip. The drink was smooth but strong, as well as hot.

"They call it 'coffee' where they grow the stuff that goes into it," Impa replied, taking a sip of her own.

"I heard rumors that you had returned," Impa said as Link took another drink. He grunted.

"Everyone seems to know I'm awake now," he replied. "I've been back in Hyrule for less than ten days and I've already walked into one trap and been ambushed twice."

"Ganondorf fears you," Impa added, nodding toward the Master Sword. "And more importantly, he fears that weapon you bear, and the destiny it symbolizes." Link looked at the holy weapon for a moment, and took a sip of the warm drink.

"Still, there were some things we couldn't anticipate," she added, frowning. "The Princess never expected the sword to seal you away as it did, and leave the gateway open."

"What could we really expect?" Link replied, sighing. "As I was, I simply didn't have the strength and will to use the Master Sword. I was just a kid. I'm still not entirely certain if I am the right person to carry it, but that won't change the past. No matter what mistakes I've made, I have to deal with them. I can't go back; I can only go forward." Impa shook her head at his words.

"It seems the only person who cannot forgive you is yourself," she remarked, and then went silent for a while. Link shrugged at her words, and then noted her thoughtful expression as she peered outside. She knew something that she wasn't telling him, but precisely what it was he couldn't begin to place. After a few moments of silence, Link shifted the subject to something more practical.

"You said that many of Hyrule's soldiers retreated to this place when the castle fell," he commented, and Impa nodded.

"We have been able to resist Ganondorf's attempts to bring us to heel," she replied. "Though not without some concessions. Still, the fact that we are able to negotiate evenly with him rather than be cowed is something I find amazing, and I have no doubt that he finds it galling."

"Why?" Link asked, curious.

"Kakariko is home to most of the civilians and those too gravely injured to continue fighting," Impa explained. "But there are large numbers of soldiers in the region, hiding and sheltering in the hills and mountains. Ganondorf knows this, and he knows that with the Gorons so close, we can assemble a formidable fighting force. The landscape, with all these ravines and hills and cliffs, will make any attempt to deploy an army a challenge, and will favor us here. Though I suspect he can crush us with sheer might if he were so inclined, Ganondorf does not wish to risk the losses he would suffer. The people and armies of Hyrule are scattered, but any sign of weakness can potentially spark an uprising across the land."

As Impa spoke, a new hope began to form in Link's mind as he realized the possibilities.

"There are other groups of soldiers fighting Ganondorf," he said quickly. "I met one group, in-"

"No," Impa replied immediately, holding a hand up. Link stopped, confused, until she explained.

"I do not need to know where they are hidden, or how many there are," she explained. "The only reason our strength remains is because we keep it secret, even from each other. We have a means to contact one another should the need arise." Link nodded, and opened his mouth to speak again, but Impa cut him off once more.

"I know what you want to suggest," she said, shaking her head. "If we were to unite, we may present a strong force that can challenge Ganondorf's armies, but any victory we could win would be hollow and meaningless." She leaned forward, looking intently into Link's eyes.

"Without the Sages, without _you_ and the Master Sword, no army can defeat Ganondorf himself. Not as long as he wields the Triforce."

Link was silent for a moment, and finally nodded. No matter what, Hyrule still required him to free it from the power of Ganondorf's evil. And in order to do that . . . .

"Impa," he asked, breaking the silence. "Do you know anything about the Temples?" Impa frowned, thinking for a moment, before nodding.

"I told you that this is a spiritual land," she explained. "You have seen the burning clouds over Death Mountain?" Link nodded. "Legend has it that those clouds represent the state of the landscape surrounding them. If Eldin is at peace, the clouds are at peace, but if darkness and corruption fills the lands, they will change to reflect them."

"Have the Gorons said anything?" Link asked, and Impa shook her head.

"Contact with the Gorons has ceased over the last few months," she explained. "No one dares to venture up on Death Mountain, for the land has become infested with monsters, and the mountain itself seems to deny us passage. Rockslides and lava eruptions are common. We don't even know if the Gorons still survive up there."

Link peered out the window, looking up at Death Mountain and the burning clouds swirling around its peak.

"This sounds familiar," Link muttered, and turned back to Impa. "I've already been to the Forest Temple, and while I was there, I found that the Lost Woods had been filled with monsters and evil magic. Death Mountain seems the same."

"I have heard rumors that one of the ancient Temples is hidden in the mountain," Impa replied, nodding slowly. "It would make sense; the volcano would be a perfect place for the ancients to have placed the structure, to harness the fire elements." She paused, considering something.

"When I last spoke with Princess Zelda, she had come up with a theory that Ganondorf's armies are being supported through dark magic drawn from the corrupted Temples, and that if we can purify them, we can weaken his support-"

The house trembled at that moment, cutting off Impa's words, and Link looked up. Navi shuffled around in his cap, and emerged in time for the trio to hear a deep, rumbling echo, an unnatural roar that shook them even at this distance. Without speaking, the group dashed outside, searching for the cause of the thunderous noise, and instantly found it.

"Impa!" one of the guardsmen shouted, running toward her and gesturing frantically over his shoulder. "Something is approaching from the mountain!" They looked up, and Link inhaled sharply at what he saw.

Swooping down from the heights of Death Mountain was what appeared to be a sinuous length of twisting flame and lava, coiling around itself as it approached. Gouts of flame jetted from the front of the front of the apparition, and he could hear more roars of savage hunger as it continued to descend toward Kakariko.

"A dragon," Impa breathed, and Link looked at her, confused. he had heard stories of such creatures, but had never imagined he'd see one.

"What?" Link asked, looking toward her and then back toward the beast. below, the town was erupting into chaos, the Kakariko villagers running for cover and the town's soldiers arming themselves.

"Its descending upon the village," she said, and bolted back inside her house. Moments later, Impa reappeared, a slender sword in hand. She pointed toward the soldier who had brought the warning. "Gather the town guard! Arm everyone with whatever ranged weaponry we have, bows, crossbows, spears, whatever! And have the citizens begin ferrying water from the town well and the spirit spring, we're going to need it!" The guard nodded quickly and hurried off to carry out her commands, but as she turned toward Link, he was running across the town, whistling as he ran.

The door to the stable burst open, and the tall, powerful equine form of Epona galloped toward him. Link scrambled up onto her back as she neared and drew his bow, then set the mare into a gallop toward the center of town.

"Navi, what do you know about dragons?" he asked as they hurried to the center of Kakariko. The fairy bobbed next to him as he shot across the village.

"They're elemental spirits, some good, some evil. They have nasty breath." Link waited for her to continue, but she was silent, and he frowned.

"That's it?" he asked, and she huffed.

"What, do you expect me to be some guidebook on monsters?" she replied, and he shrugged. By now, the blazing serpent was almost above the village, and he could see it much more clearly. Its body seemed to be composed of blazing magma, with long, slender arms tipped in obsidian claws. Its serpentine face seemed to be the only truly solid part of it, like white hot lava burning beneath an obsidian mask, with long, flowing tendrils of fiery hair waving behind its head. Its mouth opened as it neared the edge of the village, and brilliant flames burst from its gullet, descending upon the closest house.

"Guide me, Navi," Link said, and the fairy shot ahead, flying up toward the beast. As Link drew an arrow back in the bow's string, he marveled at her unflinching bravery, approaching the dragon to lead his arrows toward the target. Epona came to a halt as he tracked his companion's position, and let fly.

The arrow shot up into the sky, and the as the dragon turned, the projectile skimmed off the side of its black crest. The creature whirled in mid-air, searching for whoever had fired the shot at it, and its gleaming eyes spotted the archer far below. Link's eyes widened as the monster dove toward him, fire belching from its throat as it descended.

Epona bolted ahead, sensing the attack even as the monster let loose its hellish breath. Flames jetted past Link as he ducked low in the saddle, the heat scorching the ground where he had stood moments ago. The swordsman wheeled Epona around and nocked another arrow, looking up for Navi's telltale glow.

She wasn't immediately visible, so Link simply aimed at the dragon as it came around overhead. The bow sang once more, and the arrow lanced into the creature's flank . . . and vanished in a puff of fire, the shaft vaporized on contact.

"Oh, _crap_," Link whispered as the dragon glared at him once more. Arrows and bolts were striking up toward the dragon from elsewhere in the village as the town guard finally mustered against the invader, but they were as useless as Link's own shot. The dragon ignored the arrows as they burst into flame against its molten hide, and dove straight at the impetuous adventurer.

Link ducked, and Epona leaped aside as the dragon hurtled toward the pair. The reached over his back and pulled out his shield as the blazing serpent cut past, and he raised the barrier in time to block a flurry of slashing claws that would have torn him apart. As it was, Link was nearly knocked off his saddle, and the dragon rose up into the air, bellowing in triumph. It came around overhead, opening its mouth to belch another storm of flames.

"Link, up here!" came Navi's shout, echoing inside the swordsman's mind, her audible words drowned out by the screeching howls of the dragon. Link looked up, spotting an azure glow just over the monster's head, right behind its crest. Navi was hiding in a perfect blind spot, and as Link raised his enchanted bow, she bolted forward, releasing a pulse of brilliant light directly into the dragon's eyes.

It recoiled, rasping in surprise and confusion, and Link drew a bead on its head. The bow sang, and the monster's cries were redoubled as the arrow drove into the creature's snout. It burst into flames an instant later, but the shaft had managed to pierce the mask, wounding the dragon. It turned its eyes back toward Link, and opened its mouth to loose a stream of vengeful flames.

A fourth arrow stabbed into its mouth.

The dragon's head snapped backward at the impact, and it screeched once more. Its talons clutched at its snout, and the beast spun around, swooping up and away from the village as Link readied another arrow. He let the shaft fall, however, when he saw the monster retreating toward Death Mountain. A cheer shot up around Link as the town's defenders saw their attacker so swiftly and easily driven off. Those cheers died quickly as the Kakirikans hurried to quench the fires that had erupted during the brief battle.

"That was insane of you," Link said as Navi floated back down to his side. She bobbed once, her voice indignant.

"What else did you want me to do?" she replied. "Hover in front of its mouth and ask it to eat me?" The swordsman blinked, and quietly apologized. He looked back up toward the mountain, to see the flaming serpent heading for the similarly lit clouds wreathing the peak.

"Thank the Goddesses," Impa said as she rode up beside him, on a white stallion.

"That thing came from Death Mountain," Link said, frowning. "If that's any indication of what's going on up there . . . ."

"You think that it may have some connection to our loss of contact with Darunia's tribe?" Impa asked, and Link nodded.

"If the Fire Temple really is up on Death Mountain, then they could be in trouble," he added, but hesitated to voice his real concerns. If the Temple had been corrupted like the Forest Temple had been, the entire mountain could have become a nesting ground for evil. Could the Gorons even survive in that kind of environment?

There was only one way to find out.

After a few moments' consideration, Link started Epona on a gallop toward the north end of the village, and the trails that would lead up to the looming, fiery sentinel.

* * *

The King of Evil was not pleased, and the cloud of ash that surrounded him - all that remained of the Bokoblin messenger - spoke of that blunt displeasure. He clenched his fist, wishing for another head to squeeze between his fingers, and strode across his throne room. His cape flared out behind him as he settled into his mighty chair, and he peered across the amber-lit chamber. 

The glittering eyes of his prized servant looked back at him, along with the apprehensive gaze of a dozen more creatures, the King's officers and attendants. None dared to speak, for Ganondorf could kill just as easily from a distance as he could up close. The Gerudo mused for a brief while, the chamber's light flickering and darkening along with his furious mood.

"I did not anticipate this," he muttered quietly, and looked up at his silent host. "My raiders were slaughtered, and that idiot dragon was routed in front of the entirety of the Hylian resistance! And now the Kakarikan villagers will be flouting my authority even more with his presence inspiring them!" He shot up again, leaping off his throne, and prowled across the chamber, hands opening and closing in visible vexation.

"I will not allow the remnants of the Hylian army to join forces with the Gorons," he snarled. "To do so could inspire open rebellion against me, their lord and master! My patience with these Hylian scum is coming to an end."

"Master," came a voice, and everyone in the room went silent, a sharp intake of breath the only sound audible in the throne room. All eyes turned toward the black-skinned figure, the King's mightiest creation. Unperturbed, it stepped forward, standing tall and proud, accepting the raw ire in Ganondorf's gaze.

After several long seconds, Ganondorf gave a single nod, and the room visibly relaxed, the tension fading.

"I have seen the grandeur and numbers of our forces," it said, its command of the language used by all of Ganondorf's minions superb and flawless. "We can crush this meager uprising without effort, even if led by Hylian soldiers and . . . _others_."

After a couple of seconds, a wicked smile appeared on Ganondorf's face, and he nodded again.

"An astute observation," he replied after a moment, and then narrowed his eyes. "If only I had more servants who possessed your skill at stating the _blatantly obvious_, you _fool_!" The tension returned to the room, and those nearest the new servant moved away quickly, while the creature recoiled as if visibly struck. Ganondorf stepped forward, fixing his minion with a stare that killed small animals.

"Perhaps you have other gems of wisdom to impart?" he continued. "Like perhaps that I may possess the Triforce, or that I should be hunting Princess Zelda? Idiot!" His hand flew up, and the creature was launched back across the room, crashing against the wall. Ganondorf whirled and walked back across the room, sitting down at his throne.

"I will _not _mobilize the army to deal with this nuisance," he declared. "Not _now_, at any rate. To do so will only stir up further rebellion, even with the Zora people sealed away, the Gorons distracted, and the Hylian armies scattered." He leaned back in his chair, and clasped his hands together.

"There are other options in play at this moment, and even with Volvagia's embarrassing defeat at the hands of that simpleton and his toys, the dragon can still keep the Gorons cowed and broken, and without their aid the scattered Hylians are helpless. But most galling is . . . ." Ganondorf paused, and looked across the room, as his newest minion rose to its feet.

"You," he snapped, and the creature stood straight. "No matter how pathetic your mental abilities are, I've seen your skill with the blade, and I know you possess none of the weaknesses of this fool 'hero.' Prepare your equipment and weapons." The creature's eyes widened, and a smile appeared on its face at Ganondorf's next order.

"At first light tomorrow, you will set out to _dispose_ of the Hero of Time, and prove your worth to me."

* * *

-

* * *

This chapter took me way too long to produce, and like all my work, it was mostly slapped together over a couple of days, with a lot of delay in between. 

I did have a bit of fun writing this chapter, although writing mounted combat is something quite new to me. In fact, a lot of the combat in Zelda, particularly what we can expect later on, is going to be stuff that's new for me to write, which is why the upcoming chapters - especially those following the Fire Temple - are getting me excited. I'm getting a bit more confident in my ability to write dialogue, too, though the upcoming chapters feature Gorons, so expect less talking and more_ smashing!_

Until next chapter . . . .


	19. Chapter XVIII: Brimstone

_**Chapter XVIII: Brimstone**_

Death Mountain lived up to its name tonight.

The rocky trails of the mighty crags rose up before Link, but the air was different. It was cold, with biting winds that were uninviting. An emptiness hung in the air and permeated the stones, draping over his shoulders, putting him ill at ease. Those swirling clouds around the peak cast everything in a harsh reddish glow, and faint drifts of ash descended from the volcano's crown, even at this low altitude.

The one good part about being on edge was that it meant he wasn't surprised when the ground sprouted teeth and started trying to eat him.

Navi's warning came a half-second before his hand was rising, the Master Sword leaping from its sheath as legs and teeth snarled and skittered out of the dirt on all sides. He whirled, striking at the first body he saw - four long, insect legs, surrounding a wide, flat body of red chitin and caked in dirt. The divine blade slit the little beast in half, and as its parts scattered, the thing burst into black flames.

No surprise. Ganondorf's creations.

The sword struck two more times, slaying a beast with each cut, before Link had to break off and fall back. There were a dozen of the monsters slithering out of the ground, and as soon as they burst free of the dirt, they were leaping at him in long, vicious bounds.

His shield slid off his back, the Master Sword thrusting into a set of snapping insect jaws. The blade seared the monster as it writhed, and Link snapped the blade aside, throwing the blazing corpse away. A cut and a backhand took down two more of the monsters in mid-leap, and his shield intercepted a third. The Master Sword cleaved its front half in two.

For all the surprise they offered, Link found the monsters to be pitifully simple-minded. They bounded headlong into his shield, in some cases bashing themselves silly and leaving them open to counterattacks. Within less than a minute, Link finished off the last of the insect-like predators, black ash drifting past him.

"Death Mountain isn't very accommodating today," he muttered, and Navi bobbed beside him.

"It wasn't very accommodating when we first got here, either," she replied.

Gritting his teeth, Link started up the trail again, his eyes and ears open for the next ambush, the Master Sword drawn and ready and his shield out before him. This was going to be a grueling climb.

* * *

The fires had finally been brought back under control, and trails of billowing smoke reached up into the sky over Kakariko Village. Impa peered over her home as he people and soldiers went about their work.

There was movement behind her, and the Shiekah started for a heartbeat, drawing a blade at her waist-

-and then relaxed as a whiff of a familiar scent touched her nose, the knife at her belt returning to its sheath. She turned to face the blue and white-clad, blond figure crouched on the rooftop behind her.

"You missed it," Impa said.

"I wasn't expecting him to arrive so quickly," Sheik replied. "What happened?"

"Our fears have been confirmed," Impa replied, sighing. "Ganondorf has released the ancient dragon that the Gorons sealed away ages ago. It descended from the mountains and attacked the village." Sheik's mouth moved behind the wrappings, in what seemed like a frown.

"How much damage did it do?" Impa shook her head.

"Surprisingly little," she replied. "Link drove it off before it could do more than set a couple of homes on fire."

"All by himself?" Sheik asked, shocked, and Impa nodded.

"The Hero of Time is certainly living up to his reputation," she added.

"Where is he now?" Sheik asked, and the other Shiekah nodded toward Death Mountain.

"Up there, looking for the Gorons, and seeing if they still survive," she explained. "From there, I believe he will be entering the Fire Temple to purify it."

"He will have a hard time of it, if my memory is right," Sheik muttered, and the warrior's head shook in resignation. "There aren't very many who know how to get there, and the ways to the Temple are protected by obstacles that I don't think he can bypass on his own."

"But you know how to?" Impa asked, and Sheik nodded, reaching down and patting a pocket.

"I found a few interesting items in my research," came a cryptic reply, and the Shiekah warrior pulled out the delicate harp that had confounded Link in the Scared Forest Meadow a week ago. As Impa watched, the other Shiekah warrior began to pluck on the strings rapidly, a swift melody rolling off the instrument and echoing over the village. As Impa watched, motes of fiery light swept around the shadowy warrior, and the gleam soon seemed to consume the Shiekah.

Then, the gleam vanished, leaving Impa alone on the roof of her home, the wind blowing down from Death Mountain carrying a foreboding air.

"Lead him well," she whispered, and then dropped down off the rooftop, returning to her duties and protector and leader of her village.

* * *

There was something odd about the way he and Navi interacted. Link had been _aware_ of it before, but it wasn't until now that he was really _noticing_ it.

She spotted the next ambush, and by the time she was yelling an alert, Link had already whipped the Master Sword into a guard, thrusting down into a rising monster's face. Another was coming up behind him, and he was already turning to bring the blade to bear, the holy edge ripping through its belly as it leapt out of the ground. Then, he was spinning away, his shield flying out and blasting the next monster aside. He wasn't really consciously aware of their presence, not via sight or hearing, but he _knew_ where they were nonetheless.

It had to be Navi, and the view and warnings she was giving him as she watched the battle unfold. Somehow, her awareness, her fairy senses, were being shared with him. But that made no sense; he was a Hylian, not a Kokiri, and the kind of link a fairy and their Kokiri partner shared wasn't possible between them.

It was ironic that his awareness distracted him; as he fended off the monsters, his drifting mind left his guard open. One of the insects dashed forward in the opening he'd left and latched onto his arm, teeth gnawing away. With a yell of surprise, Link dropped the Master Sword and drew his Kokiri blade, stabbing the offending beast through its back. Speared and twitching in shock and pain, the thing slid off his blade. A quick glance to his arm showed that the monster's teeth had only cut through fabric; they'd been stopped cold by the chainmail he wore underneath.

He had to fall back, for the rest of the monsters pressed the attack, raw hunger and malevolence in their beady, insect eyes. Link's shield flew before him, driving the beasts back with ringing impacts of metal on carapace. He tried working his way back to the Master Sword, cursing his own stupidity, while the little forest dagger weaved before him, slicing through legs and stabbing into heads.

Navi's awareness warned him before he felt the scrabbling in the earth beneath him, and he was pivoting in place as more monsters dug out of the ground around him. The entire path seemed to come to life, rocks and topsoil flying and flowing about as legs burst from underneath him. The monsters clawed their way to the surface, surrounding Link even as he stabbed and slashed in a savage frenzy.

The ground was trembling, he noted offhandedly, even as he eviscerated one of the striking insects.

They kept coming, and Link finally broke off, knowing he was outnumbered. He tossed the Kokiri blade into the air and snatched a Deku nut from his belt. Closing his eyes, he smashed it against the churned ground, and the flash sent squeals of pain up from all around him. Opening his eyes, he caught the blade, and then leapt away, running through the stunned monsters and toward a clear patch of trail where he could fend them off. Once clear, Link turned to face the monsters, which began churning up the trail after him.

The rumbling intensified.

His blade cut and slashed, dark fire welling around him. Link smashed his shield through enemy faces, crushing them as they pressed in. The trail was narrow, but not enough that he could hold it on his own. They swarmed up the path, starting to surround Link despite his furious defense.

Then rocks fell from the sky.

They weren't exactly rocks, though. Rocks didn't sprout arms and legs as they crashed into the tide of monsters, and they didn't stand up, begin whooping and stomping about, and most certainly didn't start thrashing away at monsters with reckless abandon.

Link held his ground, for the near-mindless insects kept coming at him, many outright ignoring the living boulders stamping away in their midst. None of the rock warriors had weapons - then again, they didn't need them. Stone legs smashed down on insect bodies, and huge arms scooped them up and dashed them against the stone, or simply crushed them between unyielding palms. Link's blade cut and hacked, fending off the remaining monsters as the whooping creatures stomped through the mass.

Finally, the last of the insects vanished in puffs of black flame and rising ash, and the Goron warriors whooped, thumping their chests as they rumbled up the pass, waving to the Hylian fighter.

"Warrior!" the leader of the group called, his face split by what looked like a cleft in rock - Link realized it was the Goron equivalent of a scar.

Somehow, the idea of anything _scarring _the hearty, durable mountain folk disturbed Link.

He raised his blade in a salute as the Gorons gathered around.

"It has been some time since we've seen one of your kind venture up the mountain," the lead Goron said, his voice familiar. "We heard the sounds of battle while on patrol, and we came rolling as fast as we could!" It took Link a second to place it, before he finally recognized the creature before him - Gorons all looked alike, and the scar had marred his familiar, congenial features.

"Barock?" he asked, and the Goron paused, frowning.

"Do I know you?" he asked, scratching his chin.

In response, Navi floated down beside Link, and Barock's eyes widened, remembering the little fey, and then recalling those clothes.

"Brother!" he roared, his voice echoing off the mountain. "Brother Link!"

The Hylian gasped as the huge mountain creature leapt forward far faster than one of his size and composition should, and pulled him into an enormous bear hug. The breath was squeezed out of him as Barock swung him around in the air. The other Gorons began whooping and hollering as well.

"Its been seven years!" Barock shouted, dropping the gasping Link after a few seconds. He clapped his hands, laughing. "Big Brother will be overjoyed!"

"Darunia?" Link asked, standing shakily, and Barock nodded.

"Come, Brother!" he said, stomping past Link. "The city is only an hour's climb up the trails, though you should keep your blade at hand. These pests and worse besides lurk the mountain, and no amount of stomping seems to purge of their stink."

Link nodded, and hurried back to where he'd dropped the Master Sword. He picked up the flawless blade, glad it hadn't been damaged in the battle, and for a moment, he was struck by guilt for leaving it behind in his weakness.

"Sorry," he found himself apologizing to the sword, and he took it in hand, sheathing his Kokiri dagger. With the holy weapon once more in his hand, he hurried back up the trail to the Gorons.

"A fine weapon," Barock remarked, looking over the sword, though he caught something in the Goron warrior's voice. Link didn't say anything, figuring the scarred fighter would tell him what he was thinking at a more appropriate time.

* * *

"Its cold," Link muttered as they trudged up the path, a good twenty minutes after the meeting. He wouldn't admit it, but the fight against the monsters and the trek up the mountain had tired him somewhat, and he was glad for the quiet breather. For their part, the Gorons didn't even seem fazed by the climb.

"Winds from the river mouth," Barock replied, looking out over the horizon. "Far off, in Zora's Domain."

"That's a week's walk from here on foot," Link said, and Barock grunted.

"The wind doesn't stop blowing," he replied. "Air's chill, like death."

The way he spoke that made Link stop. He looked at the scarred warrior, wondering where the cheery, battle-happy Goron he remembered had vanished to. Barock seemed himself in combat, but now that the clash was over, he'd shifted. Quiet, sullen.

"Thought it would be warmer," Link replied. "Was warmer the last time I was up here."

"Gets hot enough when the mountain gets angry," Barock replied, a smile spreading across his features. He look dup at the swirling, bloody fire clouds over the peak of the mountain. "They've been building up more lately. Probably had something to do with the dragon."

"The fire serpent?" Link asked, and Barock nodded as they continued ascending.

"Volvagia," the Goron explained. "That's the name we gave it, millennia ago. Fire serpent, corrupted, evil, forged out of raw flame elements. Used to feed on Gorons, they said. The fires it breathed were so hot it could melt our hides."

"That thing is thousands of years old?" Navi asked, and Link's eyes widened.

"You've seen it yourself?" Barock replied, and Link nodded.

"I ran it out of Kakariko," he said, and the Goron stopped, staring.

"You fought that monster and _lived_?" he said, disbelief etched on his marred face. Link nodded, patting the bow on his shoulder.

"Between my bow and Navi, we ran it off," he explained, and Barock laughed, his honest, booming voice returning and echoing across the mountains.

"You've really grown since the little squishy I remembered!" he said. "Darunia is going to flip when he sees you all grown up and smiting dragons like a proper Goron hero!"

* * *

The entrance to the city he remembered had been an innocuous cave in the side of the mountain, under a sheltered overhang. It had been quite simple, modest, and the only thing that made it stand out was a little circle of rocks that the Gorons used for a fire pit.

Now, the entrance was plain as day, surrounded by hewn and fitted rock walls up to shoulder height, manned by a dozen and more Gorons carrying shields and hammers or metal-shod gauntlets. The Goron warriors were alert and wary, watching for intruders, and more Goron warriors were on patrol up and down the slopes. It clashed violently with the familiar, peaceable image of the mountain folk that he remembered from what seemed like only a few weeks ago.

"Death Mountain got a lot more dangerous after you left," Barock explained to Link's clear expression. "We thought clearing the Dodongos from the caves would improve things, but its only gotten worse."

"Like the rest of Hyrule," Link said, and Barock frowned.

"We've been so caught up defending ourselves that we haven't had time to do more than send scouts past the mountains," he said.

"Impa told me you hadn't been in contact with Kakariko in years," Link added, and Barock nodded as they moved through the fortifications. Goron warriors nodded greetings and smiles to their comrades as they passed.

"That is regrettable," Barock said, nodding. "There are too many monsters on Death Mountain. A month after we cleared the Dodongo Cavern, more of the things started showing up, and larger and meaner. They made the beasts we fought look like pests. And then, last year, Volvagia reappeared." His fingers clenched, grinding stone together.

"But we are going to deal with _that_ problem soon enough," he added.

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"The last few attacks have been more . . . _organized_," Barock rumbled as they walked inside the nondescript cave entrance. "We have lost brothers over the years, but the last months have had the worst casualties."

Link was dumbstruck, even as he entered the sprawling, tiered city. Gorons milled about below, but nearly all of them carried weapons or metal-shod knuckles, and their numbers were fewer than he remembered from his youth. Torches and bonfires filled the interior of the cave, and the upper reaches of the city were blurred with collected smoke. Still, that was secondary, as Link was still processing what Barock had just said.

Gorons had _died_. The gentle, near-invincible mountain folk, made of solid, living rock, had been hurt and killed over these last years. The idea of Gorons being injured at all, let alone them _dying_, was nearly unthinkable.

Barock noticed the look on Link's face as they started down the many tiers of the city, and he grumbled.

"We are strong, but we are not invulnerable," he lamented. His fingers traced along the gouge in his face. "The minions of Ganondorf are many, and their sorceries and weapons bite deep. Even when they do not assault us directly, Ganondorf's creatures and spawn roam the mountains, attacking our patrols and miners relentlessly. And that dragon, Volvagia, was brought forth to cow us further."

Barock's fists clenched together, and once again, Link heard the grinding of Goron fingers.

"We will not bow down so readily," he continued. "Brother Darunia is organizing our answer to this invasion."

"Brother Barock!" the shout was light, high pitched, or at least, as high-pitched as Link imagined a Goron's voice could possibly get. They were on the second tier of the city from the top, and a small Goron was running toward the group, waving his arms. To Link's surprise, the little Goron looked almost exactly like an adult, but with a smoother skin of rock. He didn't have the slightly distorted proportions of a human child when compared with an adult.

"Link?" Barock said, stepping forward.

"Yeah?" Link replied, wondering what the Goron wanted, and Barock stopped, shaking his head.

"Sorry, Brother," he said, looking back at the Hylian. "There is some confusion. This is-"

"Brother Barock!" the Goron child said, rushing up to them and stopping, jumping up and down. "Father Darunia! He's going to the Temple on his own!"

"What?" Barock said, stepping forward in shock. "When?"

"He left a little while ago," the child said, pointing toward the lowest level of the city. "I've been trying to find you to tell you, and . . . ."

"That's fine, Link," Barock said, waving his hands placatingly.

"Huh?" Link asked, still confused, and Barock managed a smile. He gestured to both of them, the Hylian adult and the Goron child.

"Link, I think you should meet . . . Link."

"Eh?" both Goron and Hylian echoed at the same time. The human warrior started putting the mental pieces together, and his eyes widened. The Goron child had called Darunia his father.

"You're Darunia's son?" Link asked, and the Goron child nodded, still off-guard.

"Yeah, my father is our leader," he replied. "Do you know-" The child stopped, eyes widening and jaw dropping.

"You're him!" he said, a wide smile appearing across his face. "You're my father's Sworn Brother! The Great Dodongo Basher and Hero of the Gorons! _Link!"_

The Hylian nodded, smiling back at the young Goron, who reminded him of a Kokiri child in his enthusiasm.

"My father likes you so much that he named me after you!" the Goron child continued. "He wanted me to be just as brave and heroic as you! he said, 'Yes, he was small, and fleshy, and flammable, but that didn't slow him down! he faced battle like a real Goron!' He said lots of other tings too, like how-"

"Link," Barock said, stepping in, interrupting the child's overjoyed rambling. "You said your father went off on his own?"

"Yeah," the Goron Link replied, his face falling a little. "One of those shadow-walkers appeared in his chambers, and told him that they were going to feed all the Gorons they took last month to the dragon!"

"Cursed thieves," snarled Barock.

"Whoa, wait, what?" the Hylian Link said, stepping into the discussion. "Start over here, I'm lost." Barock paused, thinking and gestured toward the lowest tier of the city.

"We should go to Darunia's quarters to discuss this," he said, his voice dark.

Fires were lit around the chamber where Link had first met the Goron patriarch, years past. It was largely unchanged, except for a new room tunneled out of the rock, apparently for Darunia's son.

"Dad ate the whole thing by himself," the child explained, beaming with pride. "Took him three whole days to tunnel it out, with his own bare hands and jaws!"

There was a low table set up before the immense Goron statue in the far end of the main chamber, and around it sat Link, Link, Barock, and a few other large, craggy Gorons.

"As I told you, Ganondorf's troops have managed to fell some of our Brothers in the raids over the last few years," Barock was explaining. The other Gorons bowed their heads for a moment, before looking back up. "Not all of those we have lost were killed. Last month, a major attack on several of our patrols ended with more than twenty of our brothers captured by Ganondorf's warriors. They were carried off, and Darunia had ordered nonstop searches and hunts for the captives."

"Why were they taken?" Link asked, and Barock shook his head.

"We had no idea, but now I think we do." The Goron Link nodded.

"The shadow-walker said that they would feed the captives to Volvagia, unless Dad surrendered," he repeated.

"Shadow-walkers?" Hylian Link asked, not familiar with the term.

"Your kind would name them as 'Gerudo,'" explained one of the other Gorons. "Spies, assassins, thieves. Fast and agile, but squishy if you get your mitts on them." The others nodded.

"Where did Darunia go?" Hylian Link asked, and Goron Link shrugged.

"He just took off as soon as the shadow-walker left. He said he knew where he needed to go, and headed out the passages at the back of our quarters."

"Those lead into the Death Mountain volcano," Barock said, frowning. "And to the Fire Temple."

"The Fire Temple?" Link asked, and Navi perked up. "That's where we need to go."

"You're certain?" Barock asked, and Link nodded.

"I have . . . well, its a long story."

"I want to hear it!" Goron Link yelled, and Barock nodded.

"Short and quick," he added. "We don't have much time." Link nodded, and drew the Master Sword. As he held it out before him, he gave the Gorons the short and simple version of why he was here: he had to purify the Temples in Hyrule of the evil in them, and that was the only hope they had of defeating Ganondorf permanently. It only took a few minutes to explain the situation, and Barock nodded as soon as Link was finished. Though he was no expert at reading Goron faces, the Hylian got the feeling that Barock already knew most of this story in the first place.

"That makes sense," he said, scratching his chin. "The Fire Temple is in the heart of Death Mountain, and Volvagia is a monster of evil and darkness as well as flame. I am not versed in sorcery, but I have no doubt that the dragon is being used as the focus of the evil power permeating the Temple and the mountain."

"What is it, exactly?" Link asked.

"A serpent of elemental flame and darkness, many millennia old," Barock said, thinking. "In ancient times, it did constant battle with our ancestors. Volvagia was an old evil, from the times when the darker realms still intersected with Hyrule, in the old days just after the goddesses formed the realm, so the elders say.

"A long line of heroes rose up in the millennia past, each one battling Volvagia and driving it back. But the dragon always returned, always feasting on unwary Gorons, its fires so hot they could melt our hides and it lapped up the lava that flowed from our corpses." The Gorons all shuddered, and even Link had a disturbing mental image of such events.

"One day, the mightiest smith of our people met with our greatest hero, and together, they decided to eliminate Volvagia. To that end, they constructed the mightiest weapon the Gorons of Death Mountain have ever known: the Megaton Hammer!" He slammed his fists down on the table, and every Goron whooped at the name.

"He took the Hammer, and marched to the lair of the dragon, and there, he struck the beast down!" Barock smashed his hands down again. "The ancient evil was unable to withstand such power, and it was locked away when the battle ended, its spirit sealed in the Fire Temple by the Sages and the Gorons. The Megaton Hammer was since wielded by our greatest warriors in times of the most dire need, and is kept safe in the Fire Temple itself."

"Except the Fire Temple has been corrupted by Ganondorf now," Link said, and Barock nodded.

"We tried fighting off the monsters by ourselves," he explained, "and we weren't certain Volvagia was really the same beast from the legends. We never thought to go to the Fire Temple before, to recover the Hammer."

"If the Fire Temple is where Volvagia is making its lair," Link mused, "then that must be where they're holding the Goron prisoners." Barock nodded.

"Seems reasonable enough," he replied. "And that must be why Darunia left in such a rush!"

"He's going to the Temple to get the Megaton Hammer and defeat Volvagia, just like the legend says!" Goron Link said, pumping his fists in the air. Hylian Link nodded and stood.

"I have to go help him," he explained. "I can't let him face that monster alone." He didn't say why he wouldn't allow one of his friends to enter a Temple by themselves. Though Darunia was a far greater fighter than a Kokiri girl, Saria's death was still fresh in his mind. He wouldn't let another friend of his fall - not if he could help it.

Barock seemed like he wanted to agree, but he hesitated. The Goron shared a concerned look with his compatriots.

"What?" Link asked.

"There is a problem with you and the Fire Temple," Barock said, frowning.

"What is it?" Link asked, confused again.

"You're _flammable_."

* * *

Link had never been in a volcano, but his exposure to the lava and brimstone heat of the Dodongo Caverns had given him a taste of what the bowels of Death Mountain might be like. Still, when Barock explained that even brief exposure to the heat of the heart of the volcano would fry him like a roast, Link was a bit apprehensive.

That was when Darunia's son hurried off and returned with a bundle of red fabric and scales. Link let his expression ask all the questions as the gear was laid out: a tunic much like his own, except woven out of dark red fabric and set with glittering scale armor that appeared to be made of carefully carved and polished stone. There was also a set of similarly woven and armored trousers, a long cloak, and armor-plated boots and gauntlets. Finishing it all off was a scarf of the same fabric.

"Heat-resistant clothing," Barock explained.

"Dad had it made specifically for you," Goron Link said, beaming with pride. "He ordered the armorers to make clothes that would let the wearer survive in extreme heat, no matter whether they were rock or flesh."

"Gorons are not ones for sorcery," Barock added, crossing his arms. "But our shamans are well-learned in crafting wards and the like. They blessed the scales and fabric that went into this suit and clothing to shield against the heat."

Link picked up the armor suit, amazed by the quality of its manufacture.

"Darunia had this made for _me_?" he asked, and Barock nodded.

"You are his Sworn Brother," he explained. "He wanted to give it as a gift, when you became an adult." he gestured. "I suppose now is as good a time as any to give it to you."

With a nod, Link took off his hat and began to put the armor on. It was surprisingly light, and fit over his tunic and chainmail easily enough. The breeches were another issue, but with some work he was able to fit them over his light white pants.

"You said Darunia was going into the Temple alone?" Link asked as he donned the clothes, and the Goron child nodded.

"Dad was supposed to wait, but I think you know how emotional he gets," he replied, shrugging. Link glanced up at Barock, who nodded grimly.

"We were planning to assemble a force of warriors, not unlike the last time you had joined us," he said. "But the shadow-walkers must have forced Darunia's hand."

"That might have been their intention," Link said, finishing putting on the boots. He slid the gauntlets on last, flexing his fingers. They were almost perfectly proportioned to his hands, he realized. "They might be drawing Darunia into a trap."

He buckled the Master Sword's sheath over his chest, and looked at the holy blade. Not if they had any say in the matter.

The cloak went over his back and shoulders, and he finally looked at the scarf, understanding what its purpose was. He carefully wrapped it around his neck, mouth, and nose, just beneath his eyes.

"Well?" he asked Navi, looking up at his companion. "How do I look?" She bobbed a couple of times.

"Like a moron, but that's no different," she replied, and floated in close, climbing inside the hood. He blinked as she settled in at his shoulder.

"What, you expect me to fly around in that baking heat?" she asked. "Unless they made special heat-resistant clothes for fairies, I'll stay in here. No way I'm letting you go in there without supervision." The Gorons laughed, and Link grunted.

"We will be behind you as soon as we have the troops assembled and organized," Barock added as Link finished making sure his gear was together. The Hylian nodded, and, with his equipment ready and the protective garments secure around his body, he started toward the rear of Darunia's chambers. Barock followed, and stepped toward one of the statues. His rocky hands wrapped around it, and he pulled hard, wrenching the enormous, multi-ton mass of stone free.

Beyond loomed a long, dark tunnel, and Link caught a whiff of fresh brimstone through the passage. With one last breath, and a nod to the Gorons who had helped him this far, Link plunged into the darkness, and the hellish fires that waited beyond.

* * *

"Long tunnel," Link breathed into the scarf as they finally emerged from the passage. His legs were complaining, but he banished that; he wasn't about to stop this early on when confronted by a long incline.

"Well, don't stop now," Navi said as they stepped back into the light, or what passed for light. Night had fallen during the passage through the long, dim corridors, and now the only light that greeted them was an ominous red glow amidst plumes of sulfur and other gases he couldn't identify.

"Not planning on it," he replied, stepping out of the sheltering darkness. The air had been getting warmer as they had walked, and now it was intensely hot. Sweat was pouring down Link's brow as he moved to the edge of the cliff for a better view.

A blood-red lake spread out beneath him, visible through the wafting columns of smoke and gas drifting out of the heat. The air twisted and wavered before him, making sight difficult beyond a few dozen meters. Cliff walls rose up on all sides, shrinking Link where he stood as they scratched at the black sky overhead. He could hear the deep rumble of flowing lava and the bubbling of released vapors, somewhere in that lake of pure fire beneath him.

"You see the Temple anywhere?" Link asked, walking along the cliff, but keeping a respectful distance from it. The last thing he wanted was to tumble into that mass of liquid heat beneath him. Despite his vestments, the scalding air made breathing a challenge, and the exposed areas of Link's face were already soaked with sweat. He had to wipe his eyes to keep the salty sting from ruining his already limited vision.

Then, he caught a hint of motion, and whipped around, Master Sword flying out of its sheath and presenting itself.

A red-garbed figure stood behind him, watching him with blood-red eyes. Blonde hair poked out of the wrappings around the head, a cloak of similar design and texture as Link's hanging around the slender body.

The Master Sword dropped a hair, and Link relaxed.

"Sheik," he said, sighing, and sheathed the blade. "You have a way of sneaking up on someone, don't you?"

"If I hadn't made myself visible for a moment, you probably would have attacked me on contact," the Shiekah replied. Link nodded, looking back over the lake of fire before him.

"Gorons said there were Gerudo around," he added. "Can't be sure. Never fought one, but I got a nasty reputation regarding them."

"They are Ganondorf's kin," Sheik confirmed, stepping up beside him.

"I need to reach the Fire Temple," Link said, peering across the expanse. "But I can't see anything in this heat."

"The Fire Temple's approach was destroyed by Volvagia," Sheik said. "Just after Darunia entered." The Shiekah pointed, and through the distorted air and smoke, Link spotted what looked like a bridge, jutting out into the middle of the crater but shattered in the center.

"Damn," Link hissed. He had been right. It _had_ been a trap.

"A Goron can traverse the path," Sheik added. "There are ways that the mountain people can use to bypass the normal foot entrance, but a Hylian can't survive the temperatures, even protected like we are." The Hylian stared at the broken bridge, considering his options.

"I need to find Darunia," Link said after a few seconds. "I won't let him die like I did with Saria."

"Your friend died?" Sheik asked, voice marked with surprise. Link grimaced and nodded.

"I was too late," he muttered, shaking his head. "She was killed by the monsters Ganondorf had left in the Forest Temple to maintain his hold over it." He paused.

"Darunia went into the Fire Temple, the same as she did in the forest, to face the darkness. I'm not letting him die, too." The Shiekah nodded, and from within the folds of the cloak, produced a harp - the same one Link had seen in the Lost Woods.

"When we were children," the Shiekah said, voice distant, "we didn't understand the consequences of our actions, or how they would affect our futures, who we would be connected to."

"We?" Link asked, confused again. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I was speaking metaphorically," Sheik corrected. "We were both children at some point, yes?" Link frowned.

"I'm not sure if I ever had a real childhood," he said, considering his past. Had being a Kokiri counted as a childhood? He'd had a happier, more carefree life then, but there had been so little transition between now and then. Less than a couple of months ago, by his reckoning, he had been that boy, playing in the woods, never having thought of swords or dragons or evil sorcerers or the Hero of Time.

"You've spent seven years sealed away, thrust twice into a world you barely understand," Sheik mused. "Hard to imagine you can stay sane through all this."

"I don't think about it," Link replied with a shrug. The Shiekah was silent, and Link let it stay that way for a few moments. He had a suspicion as to why those words had been chosen; Sheik was indicating knowledge of something only a few people, such as the Sages or Princess Zelda, should have known. But precisely what that meant, or why the Shiekah was saying it at this point, was uncertain.

"To you, its been short, brief, brutal," the Shiekah continued. "For others, its been long, hard, and drawn-out. Some people have been waiting for you to return for what felt like lifetimes."

"You're talking about Zelda," Link said, seeing clearly through the veiled words. Sheik nodded.

"I have word that she missed you, despite having only known you for a heartbeat," Sheik said. After a few moments, fingers rose and twanged on the harp's strings.

"We're wasting time waxing the past," Sheik continued. "I have something I need to teach you."

"Let me guess," Link said, raising an eyebrow. He remembered what had happened in the Lost Woods, and the Minuet of Forest Sheik had taught him. "Something that would have been very useful for me to know yesterday, before I climbed up this mountain? A way to get to the Fire Temple, easy and simple?" Sheik sighed, head shaking.

"If I had been able to find you earlier, maybe," came the reply. "But either way, its irrelevant. I would have held off on teaching you this unless it was absolutely necessary, and even then, until you were ready for it."

"Ready for it?" Link echoed, frowning behind his scarf. His eyes narrowed into a scowl. "_Ready_ for it?" He stepped forward, glaring at the Shiekah.

How . . . how did the damn red-eyed freak deign and _dare_ decide when or when he wasn't _ready_ for this? What gave the right to choose when and where he would learn what he needed to know?

"_Ready?_ I'm fighting almost singlehandedly to save all of Hyrule from a psychotic sorcerer who controls the Triforce and is probably trying to kill me right now in a dozen different ways," he yelled, and jabbed a gauntleted finger at Sheik.

"I've been pulled from my own home, watched my _family_ suffer and die, seen people I know and care for be broken and crushed, and spent seven years sleeping through the entire world being ruined just to be woken up and sent on a mission to save it again because we screwed everything up! I have killed, bled, and been torn apart, crawled up from my hands and knees and fought for every inch of what I've accomplished this far! Do _not_ tell me when I _am_ or _am not ready!"_

Silence filled the crater, and Link spun away, hands shaking in rage after that sudden, unexpected outburst. He didn't know where it came from, or why, but it had erupted from the base of his stomach and screamed out into the open air, unable to be contained any longer.

And it was true. Every word of it, he felt, was absolutely correct.

"The power of the heart," Sheik whispered, barely audible, and he looked back, still angry at the condescending nature of the Shiekah.

"That was what drove you when you fought to save Saria," Sheik continued. A flash of mental pain from those moments, all too soon.

"_Don't_," Link snarled. "Just . . . teach me the damned song already. I don't want a lecture. I have a friend to save."

Sheik hesitated, and then strummed a few more notes ion the harp. Link reached into his pouch and took out the Ocarina of Time. The air was tinged with rapid, quickly changing notes, grouped into high and low sets of alternating pitches.

"This song is called the Bolero of Fire," Sheik explained. "It is devoted to the passion and fury of the heart." Fingers continued playing streams of music, and Link closed his eyes, listening intently.

The Ocarina rose to his lips, and he started echoing the melody. The song poured into him, and he saw the fires burning outside, even with his eyes firmly shut. They burned, savage and intense, unquenchable and hungry. The song itself seemed to light up as he drew closer to properly synchronizing with Sheik's own fingers.

Somehow, through the two instruments and the anger bubbling in his heart, Link could still hear Sheik speaking.

"Passion is both a powerful tool and a dangerous cancer," Sheik was saying, voice hopping between the notes and dancing inside Link's mind. Tingles ran up and down his spine as he felt the music, now flowing out of him, almost of its own accord.

"It can drive you to acts of impossible bravery and selflessness," the voice continued, "or it can damn you if you let it run unchecked. You have to be careful, tempering your passion with all other feelings and emotions. Rational thought must balance your fury. Otherwise, this war is over before it begins."

The music stopped, and Link opened his eyes.

He stood on a wide platform, made of solid marble, with the Triforce emblem marked on it. In the center of the triangles was the Goron sigil.

Before him, looming out of the cliff face, was a structure, carved of the fiery rock of the crater. It was large but nondescript, blank stone walls surrounding an unassuming black tunnel entrance.

Sheik was nowhere to be found.

"That right?" he asked, looking around the Death Mountain crater. He reached back, clasped the handle of the Master Sword, and looked down. Navi was tucked close to his shoulder, deep inside the protective garments.

Assured that he was as ready as ever, Link stepped off the platform, and delved into the Fire Temple.

* * *

**_Author's Notes: _**Well, that took too damn long for me to write. Fell into a slump there for a bit, partially because this chapter was ninety percent dialogue, and in some spots highly uninteresting dialogue, by my estimation. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the meeting and discussion witht he Gorons to work out bette rthan what you see here. However, the parts toward the end, where Link snaps at Sheik, came out of nowhere and clobbered me in the head with inspiration and character, and that was part of what finally got me around to finishing this chapter.

Link's outfit for the Fire Temple excursion is a much more elaborate variation on the Goron Tunic; as you've no doubt noticed, twilight Princess is edging in on this story quite a bit, and the Zora Armor from that game inspired a sort of Goron-themed full-body outfit to ward off extreme heat. Of ocurse, there's other logistical problems, not the least of which being how Navi is supposed to survive the heat, too.

Next chapter, things really start to heat u- . . . no. No, I am not going to use that bad of a pun here. However, expect there to be a nasty chunk of fighting as Link and Darunia struggle against Volvagia and other minions of Ganondorf.

Until next chapter . . . .


	20. Chapter XIX: Hellfire

**_Author's Note: _**This chapter is a bit more violent and dark than usual.

* * *

_**Chapter XIX: Hellfire**_

It was cooler inside the blank, fire-scorched masonry of the temple than it was outside in the crater. When one considered the temperatures involved, though, it was like saying that getting impaled on a short spear was less troublesome than getting impaled on a lance. Link's eyes still stung from the sweat as he climbed down a long stone ladder that had invited him down into a deep shaft, and ended in another corridor identical to the one he'd followed up above.

The light at the end of this passage was brighter, and wind gusted past him as he hurried up the corridor, toward the orange glow. Link found himself emerging into a wide, open chamber with a set of stairs leading up to a platform before an enormous altar covered with blazing candles and surrounded by torches. Leering dragon heads were cut into the walls amidst what looked like stylized Goron faces.

Link walked up the steps toward the platform, noting a couple of doors on either side of the raised part of the room.

"Which way do you think Darunia went?" Link asked, and Navi muttered something under her breath.

"Don't know," she said after a couple of seconds. Link grunted, and picked the left hand door on a whim.

Heat blasted against the exposed parts of his face the moment he opened the door. The air shimmered with waves of rising thermal energy, and an orange haze spread across the chamber beyond. Link gagged against the rush of sulfur and brimstone, a hundred times more intense than the stench outside.

There was a huge chamber beyond, with a platform in the middle of a crimson lake of simmering magma. The bubbling, molten rock clawed at the massive carved platform, and leering stone stalactites hung from the ceiling like the teeth of the malevolent fire spirit Link had driven off. There was a stink lurking in the room, beyond the simple nastiness of the lava - something foul and unnatural, just like what he'd felt in the Forest Temple.

_Evil_ wafted through the air, tangible and reeking, burning at Link's nostrils. His hand rose to his blade, for Link could sense a presence in the chamber beyond, and hear a faint breathing over the rumble of churning lava. The dragon was close.

He sensed movement behind him, and whipped around, drawing the Master Sword and bringing his shield up to bear.

"Whoa!" A hulking shape loomed overhead, dwarfing Link, and the familiar voice calmed the Hylian where he stood. He lowered the sword, and peered up a the familiar face of his old friend.

"Darunia?" he asked, and the massive Goron frowned. He seemed to have grown even taller since Link had last seen him, though now the Hylian could see past his chest instead of just his navel.

"Huh?" the Goron chieftain asked, confused. "Do I know you, human?"

"You should," Link said with a smile, and tugged at the cloth covering his mouth to show more of his face, risking the acrid smoke and heat. Darunia looked down at the visage below, his face twisting in thought and confusion. Link noticed he bore several gouges in his cheeks and jaw, what looked like old claw marks left in stone.

"Wait a moment," he said, frown intensifying, and then his face lit up with recognition. "Brother! Link!"

Really, he should have expected what was coming next, but for his part, Link was too happy to see his old friend alive and uninjured. He didn't see the massive, mountain-crushing bear hug until Darunia had locked his arms around the boy. Link grunted in surprise and pain as Darunia hefted him off the floor, his booming laughter filling the room.

"Seven years!" he yelled, releasing Link, who staggered as he hit the floor. "Seven years, Brother! Where have you been hiding, huh?"

"Napping," Link replied, and the Goron boomed another cheerful laugh.

"I hope it was a good rest, because we're in for an adventure up here!" he rumbled. He gave Link another look, and nodded. "You're wearing the armor I had crafted. Good. That means that Barock and my boy have told you what's happened?"

"Ganondorf captured some of your troops," Link replied. "He's planning to feed them to Volvagia, to appease the dragon and send a warning to the rest of the Gorons."

"He will only earn our hammers to his skull for this!" Darunia replied firmly. "But first we must deal with that fire dragon."

"Barock mentioned something about a hammer," Link said, and Darunia nodded grimly.

"The Megaton Hammer," he said. "Forged by our ancestors and wielded by a mighty hero of our people. It was specially enchanted with runes of vengeance upon Volvagia itself." He peered into the chamber Link had opened, and shook his head.

"But I fear we do not have the time to find it, and save my people all the same," he added. "The hour of Ganondorf's ultimatum for our surrender is upon us."

"He wanted you to surrender?" Link asked, and Darunia grunted.

"He does not understand the Goron people," he growled, his voice like scraping boulders. "We shall fight to the last errant twitch of our fingers! But we cannot abandon our kin either. I did not tell Barock my true intentions, because he would never have let me do this."

"What intentions?" Link asked, and Darunia straightened.

"If it is our fate to fall, we shall accept it. That is the Goron way," he said, clenching his fists. "I shall not risk our entire army when there are greater battles to be fought, but I cannot stand aside and let these prisoners die without making a stand! Barock leads the armies in my stead, and I know that we shall be led well in the coming days should I fall here."

"You're going to take on Volvagia yourself," Links aid, understanding. "Ganondorf hoped you would send your army after the prisoners and let them get slaughtered by the fire dragon."

"I will not let Gorons who may live die after Gorons who are doomed," Darunia said, and Link thought he saw the mighty living boulder's shoulders sag a bit. "But I will not accept this fate for my people, not while I can do what I can to avert it!"

Link understood. Darunia was being crushed between his honor and his duty as the Goron leader, being forced to choose between abandoning the prisoners to their fates or risking his entire army against Volvagia. Instead, he had chosen to fight both eventualities, but that meant . . . .

"You really think you can defeat Volvagia on your own?" Link asked, and Darunia was silent for several moments.

"No," he admitted after a while. "Not without the Megaton Hammer. But there is no time to scour the Temple for it. I must face Volvagia now or doom my captured Brothers. The dragon hungers, and if it is not delayed, it will soon feed."

"Not alone," Link said stepping forward and slapping Darunia's shoulder he looked back down at Link, and smiled.

"You've gotten a lot tougher since I last saw you, Brother," he said. "And with that armor, you're not quite so flammable, either. And that sword of yours is magnificent!"

Link glanced down at the Master Sword, and felt a bit bothered somehow by the insinuation. The Master Sword wasn't _his_ weapon; he'd just been given its burden. His words to Sheik sounded again in his ears, along with his own uncertainty about his quest, but he pushed back those thoughts. He had a job to do here.

"I will not ask you to help me with this, though," Darunia added. Link could hear the fatalism in his voice. "Instead, I would ask you a final favor, Brother."

"What?" Link asked, not liking his tone. Darunia didn't expect to live through this, he could tell.

"Find and free the other prisoners while I delay Volvagia," the huge Goron said, pounding his fists together. "Free them from this cursed Temple." He gestured to the other door. "I know some of this Temple's layout from the old maps. There should be a lift beyond the room that way that leads to the level where they are holding my kin. But I am not sure; I haven't had time to explore much."

"You can't defeat Volvagia," Link said, shaking his head.

"I don't need to," Darunia replied with a grim smile.

"You won't survive facing it without the Hammer," Link continued, and the Goron nodded.

"I've already accepted that," he replied. Link sighed, realizing he couldn't dissuade his friend from the course ahead of him, and not sure he wanted to. Memories of Saria rose up in the back of his mind, and he didn't want to see Darunia suffer the same fate, but he knew he couldn't stop him, and he wouldn't go against his friend's wishes.

"Good luck," Link offered, and Darunia nodded. He gestured to the door Link stood at.

"Volvagia lurks beyond," he rumbled. "That chamber is where it makes its lair. Should you save my kin and find the Hammer, you'll know where to find me."

With that, the Goron chieftain gave Link one final look, and grinned, before moving through the doorway and into the chamber beyond. he clenched his fists, and Link heard his knuckles cracking like stone chipping off a granite wall.

"Good luck," Link said again, pulling his armor's hood back up over his face. He turned toward the other door, and started off.

But as he reached for the door, Link couldn't get rid of the mental image of Ganondorf's phantom, its spear stained with his friend's blood.

"Not again," Link hissed, making a solemn promise to himself as he stepped through the door. "_Not. Again_."

* * *

"Is that _wood_?" Navi asked.

"That does look an awful lot like wood," Link replied.

"In a cave full of lava," Navi added.

"I can see," Link replied. They'd emerged into a large, wide-open chamber with smoldering, semi-solid lava lingering below the stone platform they stood upon. Across the chamber was an identical door, leading to wherever the Goron prisoners were being held. Bridging the gap of fiery stone was a long, wide suspension bridge.

Made of wood.

"Who _built_ this place?" Link asked, frowning behind his mask.

"Someone who seriously has it in for the Hero of Time?" Navi remarked as Link cautiously set foot on the bridge. Seemed stable enough, and he set his full weight on it. How exactly the wooden bridge hadn't caught fire in the ages since the Temple had been constructed escaped him, but that was terribly irrelevant. He had more important things to do than question the architectural wisdom of whoever built this place.

He _felt_ Navi's warning before she whispered it in his ear, and Link looked up above him.

"Link, overhead," she breathed, and he spotted a glowing shape swooping about a dozen feet above him. Link raised his shield as the small winged creature dove upon him, and slammed the metal into its head as it got close. The thing let out a squeal of pain, flying backward and tumbling into the lava.

"What was that?" Link asked.

"Looked like some kind of bat," Navi replied. "But on fire."

"The bats are on fire, but the bridge isn't?" Link muttered, scanning the area for any more of the things. His search ended quickly as he spotted a small flock of the bats circling overhead, and then started diving toward him. The Master Sword lashed out as the first got close.

"Must be some kind of sentries or scouts," Navi mused as Link bisected the flaming creature. Unsurprisingly, its body burst into darker flames and quickly turned to ash.

"Probably to keep an eye out for us," Link added, bashing another of the creatures with his shield and knocking it away. Whatever they were supposed to be, combat wasn't their forte; Link found their diving attacks to be predictable and the creatures were as fragile as they were small. After a couple of attacks he stopped using the Master Sword and instead just focused on bashing them with the shield.

Link kept turning and scanning for the next diving bat, and blocked them as they struck. He wished he could let Navi fly around the cavern, but the heat was hideous, even with his armor on. She wouldn't last seconds in this temperature.

But then, if he could have let Navi loose, Link probably would have been alerted before a curving blade of tempered steel slid up into his back.

* * *

The boiling lava rumbled around him as he stomped into the center of the pit. He strode onto the central platform of the dragon's lair, noting the dozens of fissures, large and small, that dotted the wide stone platform itself.

"Volvagia!" Darunia, Son of Damarnia, Chieftain of the Gorons, Breaker of Steel, Crusher of Mountains, Eater of Bombs, Basher of Dodongos, pounded his chest as he shouted.

"Dragon! Beast of fire and evil! Come out and face me!"

He turned slamming his fists together as he peered about the chamber, issuing his challenge.

"You can hear my voice, beast!" he called. "You can smell the dust in the air, the veins of iron in my body, the avalanche that is my challenge! You know my ancestors!"

He continued turning, stomping his feet, sending reverberating shocks through the room.

"I am Darunia!" he roared. "Descendant of the hero that sent you to this hole in shame and defeat! I know who has broken the seal on you, who gave you new life, but I do not care! I fear no monster or king!"

He slammed his hands together again.

"Come out and face me! You wish to taste the skin of the Gorons of Death Mountain, and I shall grant it! Come out, and face your first _and your last _meal!"

The chamber was silent for several long seconds, and quiet filled the room. The lava stopped bubbling, the air hung quiet and unmoving, and even the scent of brimstone seemed to dull.

A tremor ran through the fissures beneath Darunia, a dull rumble that overrode all other sounds, shivering the chamber. The lava began to speed back up, bubbling and popping with burst of gas. Tiny flakes of stone dropped off the roof overhead.

The fissure directly before Darunia burst with a gout of fire, and a long, sinewy form leapt up, belching heat and fire and wrath. Whipping cords of shaped fire flew out behind a mask-like head, green eyes glittering through black bone and twisting horns.

_**Foolish Goron**_, a voice emerged, its tones taking shape as the room shook, the lava popped, and the stones cracked together. The dragon wheeled about too face Darunia, hunger flowing off it like a virulent tide of hatred.

_**You welcome the embrace of the fire, **_Volvagia echoed. _**I have spent too long hungering in the formless heat of this wretched prison. **_

"I will send you back there, dragon," Darunia said, hammering his fists together.

_**Perhaps, **_the room spoke. _**Very well. I accept your invitation, Darunia, Chieftain of the Gorons of Death Mountain. You will be my first meal in **_**millennia**.

* * *

She watched the scene play out below in trepidation. This eventuality had been expected, but dreaded, at least by her. The Great King of Evil had sent her a warning that his pet abomination had run afoul of the Hero in the village at the foot of the mountains, and she suspected he would make his way here.

She hadn't anticipated this when she'd come out this far. With a team of her warriors deployed on a mission this far from home, she'd chosen to accompany them personally. The King of Evil had not been pleased by the idea of her venturing so far out, but that seemed more because he was worried of a possible power struggle in her absence. Typical of his paranoia.

She had been necessary, she argued. If a team was deployed this far out, on such a critical mission, they would need a proper leader, and who better?

But in reality, it was the words of that damned Shiekah that had convinced her to take command, and to talk Ganondorf into letting her command this force personally. And now the Hero was here. The Shiekah had said nothing about this . . . but was that his plan all along?

She dreaded this moment, but at the same time, knew what had to be done. She couldn't shirk her duty to her people, and the damned monster ruling them. No matter how much she despised Ganondorf . . . .

The Hero was distracted. They were ready.

They struck.

* * *

The scale mail of Link's Goron-forged armor was a solid defense against slashing weaponry, but a well-angled thrust could slip in between the seams of the armor. That was what happened when the blade plunged into his back.

He spun, slamming his shield down as he felt the sting of the impact, and the heavy metal crashed into the curving blade and threw it down. It came away wet with his own blood. Link came out of the spin with the Master Sword arcing about, only to ring off the side of another curved weapon. His shield rose, deflecting another strike, and Link backed away, frowning at what he faced.

His foe wasn't a monster, as he'd expected, but a lithe figure, swathed in red fabric like his own. Slender hands wrapped in leather gauntlets emerged from the sleeves of the figure's robe, and held long, curved scimitars. Yellow eyes glared at him from beneath the robe's cowl.

Link sensed movement, and came about, his shield deflecting another strike at his back. He whipped around, hacking and slashing quickly, driving back the second attacker, and then a third came at him from another angle. The Master Sword flew back and forth, ringing against the scimitars, and the shield caught and deflected another attack at his back.

They broke off, moving a few paces back, surrounding him on the bridge. Link caught another bit of movement, and saw a fourth figure, clad in white, a little bit further back. The weapon at this one's waist was sheathed, but a hand was resting on it, ready to draw. Probably some kind of commander then.

"So, where did these come from?" Link muttered. He wanted to check his lower back, but the pain there was dulling. It couldn't be that bad; he'd deflected the stab before it could penetrate too deeply.

"I didn't see," Navi replied. "They just came out of nowhere. Sorry."

"Not your fault," Link replied, slowly turning in a low crouch. He remembered Barock's warning about the stealthy women warriors Ganondorf had dispatched to this place.

So, these were Gerudo?

The leader hissed something in a language he didn't understand, and then the three warrior women leapt at Link at once, six blades flashing in unison.

His shield met two of the blades, blocking them squarely, and the Master Sword rang and deflected off two more in rapid succession. Link ducked and twisted away from the last pair, more out of instinct than experience, and the scimitars cutting fabric and scraping scale mail. Link dug his feet into the wooden bridge and reversed his momentum, the Master Sword hacking in behind the scimitars. The divine blade slashed into the robes and sank in, coming away bloody. He heard the wounded woman gasp in pain as she withdrew.

He didn't wait for the woman to recover. Even as her comrades attacked again, he was running forward, ducking under one woman's blades while deflecting the other's with his shield. The wounded Gerudo struck as Link closed, and his shield snapped up, ringing with the impacts. He spun as the blades hit, rolling around the scimitars and coming out with the Master Sword cleaving down hard.

The blade bit down into the Gerudo's shoulder and slashed out of her chest. A strangled wail of pain escaped her, and she fell to the wood, blood gushing out of the ragged wound and dripping between the wooden planks. Link heard a hissing sound as it evaporating against the lava below, and stopped, staring at the body. He saw the woman's yellow eyes, locked open and twitching about, before finally going still.

He felt something cold as he looked into that covered face and those dead eyes, a feeling he couldn't explain, but it made the Master Sword waver in his hands, and his stomach churn.

* * *

She saw the way he paused, and looked into the shocked gleam of the boy's eyes. Confusion filled her, chasing away the momentary outrage of the death of one of her sisters. The way he looked at the corpse, and the way his weapon seemed to droop . . . .

He had never taken a life before. Or rather, _true_ life, that wasn't created by Ganondorf's sorcery.

The other two Gerudo women leapt to the attack, sensing his moment of weakness, but their leader simply watched, wondering at the strange innocence of this young man, who was so hated and feared by the King of Evil and his servants; the same young man she'd been commanded to kill.

* * *

He couldn't describe why he had stopped, why the body at his feet hit him so, but Link was conditioned to Navi's warnings. When she quite literally screamed in his ear, he snapped his head up and parried one of the diving scimitars purely on instinct. His shield rang against two more.

The fourth hit a seam in his scale mail and cut a gouge in his torso.

Link skittered backward, away from his attackers, who viciously pressed their advantage. Scimitars dove and twirled, ringing against his shield, and he turned his right side to face both the attackers. They struck in quick, coordinated assaults, one going high and the other going low at his feet, forcing Link to keep retreating lest they slip a blade past his shield; it couldn't protect his entire body. He kept his sword back but ready to strike, but Link couldn't get past the unrelenting assault. By this time Navi probably would have distracted one of his foes, but . . . .

Another coordinated strike slid in, and Link raised his shield to block two high strokes from the Gerudo to his left, the blades scraping off the metal barrier. The one on the right struck at his knees, to which Link twisted backward and snapped one leg up. The boot struck her wrist as she slashed, and the blade toppled out of the Gerudo's fingers. The other scimitar met the Master Sword.

Link turned, parrying another pair of strokes with his shield, and kicked the fallen scimitar off the side of the bridge. The disarmed Gerudo cursed at him, readying her single blade.

The left Gerudo came at him again with a flurry of wild blows to cover her partner's momentary weakness. Link answered this assault with blunt savagery, punching out with the metal shield and blasting both of her scimitars back. They crossed over her chest as Link pushed back, and he stabbed the Master Sword over the top of his shield. The Gerudo ducked below the blade, and Link sidestepped forward around her, bringing the shield around and slamming it down into her head as she whirled to strike. The unyielding metal barrier rang against her skull, and she toppled backward.

The Gerudo fell off the edge of the bridge and into the lava.

Link was whirling to face the other Gerudo, the Master Sword clashing against hers and clinching at the hilt, when he heard the fallen woman's agonized screams. The brimstone was suddenly scented with an awful stink he'd never encountered before, but instinctively recognized as burning flesh. He suddenly wanted to retch, both from the smell and the cries as the Gerudo was burned alive by the boiling rock.

The remaining warrior caught his momentary weakness and broke off, coming at him with a vicious chop at his neck. Link reacted on instinct once more, raising his shield and catching the scimitar, while ducking low. The Master Sword punched out and stabbed into the woman's stomach, plunging deep. Blood burst out of the wound as the weapon tore out her back.

Link stared up into the dying woman's masked face, and into those shocked, pained eyes. For a moment, she seemed to almost be pleading with him. For several long seconds he stared at her, cold feelings and a powerful revulsion going through him - but not for her.

For _himself_.

She sank down to the bridge, her blood pouring out, some of it on his gauntlets and covering the Master Sword. It mixed with the ruby-red scales of the Goron armor, and hissed as it leaked through the panels of the bridge and touched the lava below. Finally, Link pulled the Master Sword loose, and looked down its length, running with crimson.

Why was he feeling this way, looking at her body? Why were the screams of the burning Gerudo still clawing at him, even though she'd already gone silent? He'd killed countless minions of Ganondorf before, grim and brutal tasks, but this was something altogether different, fundamentally sickening.

He had killed people. Not monsters, but . . . _people._

Link pulled himself away from those thoughts at a warning from Navi. He looked up, and saw the white-clad Gerudo warrior striding toward him, her yellow eyes boring into his beneath her hood. She only wore a single scimitar, which she drew as she advanced. he caught her eyes flicker to the bodies, and sensed something - _regret? _- as she stalked his way, blade at the ready.

Grimacing beneath his cowl and cloth mask, Link raised the Master Sword and slid into a guard, shield forward and sword ready beside him. He didn't want to fight her, and he got the feeling she didn't either.

Her sword flashed up, and Link's shield met it. The weapon flickered and danced in front of him, cutting fast and quick, high and low, and for a moment the Hylian was convinced she had two cleverly hidden blades. However, as he blocked her assault, it quickly became apparent that she was simply so fast with her weapon that she didn't need a second scimitar. He gritted his teeth.

Gerudo leaders definitely earned their place, he realized, swinging the shield back and forth to defend against her dizzying cuts. He took a couple of steps backwards as she pressed in, and then rushed forward, pitting raw his strength against her speed and skill. her blade impacted against his shield as he shoved against her, pushing the Gerudo back, and the Master Sword cleaved across. It scraped against her blade, the scimitar parrying the blow and then cutting behind it, right for Link's face. He twisted aside, slapping the curved weapon away with his shield and countering with a quick jab. She was already skipping out of the way of the blow by the time he'd thrust at her, and stood back a couple of paces out of reach.

Stalemate.

They met eyes again, Link preparing to absorb another charge and counter. It was the tactic that he had learned worked best when dealing with superior opponents.

Her off hand flicked, holding something, and Link barely had time to raise his shield and close his eyes before a brilliant flash of the light filled the air. He lowered the shield just as quickly, moving into a defensive stance with sword at the ready, but found he was . . . .

Alone.

Link spun, scanning his surroundings, on edge and hunting for the Gerudo leader, who could come at him from any angle. He tensed, listening for any sound that would betray the next assault. Navi was alert and by his side, using her extra senses as best she could within the hood of his cloak.

But there was nothing. No second assault, no Gerudo reinforcements. No threat whatsoever.

For some unfathomable reason, the Gerudo had retreated.

He turned, looking back over the bridge and the dead bodies. The gasps of pain, the widening eyes of the Gerudo as he'd killed them, the screams of the woman whom he'd thrown off the bridge . . . the sensations assaulted Link in a way totally different from what he expected. His knees felt a bit weak, and as he stared at the corpses, that churning filled his stomach once more.

He looked to the Master Sword, and saw a hint of real blood on the edge of the holy blade, and that did it.

Link doubled over and vomited into the lava pit.

* * *

Darunia answered Volvagia's declaration by punching him in the face.

The dragon didn't like that too much. When it whipped back around, those gleaming green eyes were glittering with boiling rage promising an eternity of agonized torture, a grim herald to its ancient, vile wrath.

Darunia punched Volvagia in the face again. The Goron chieftain was consistent.

Volvagia lashed out with its claws as it came around, abandoning its efforts to cow the fearless Goron. The talons on its arms, obsidian blades glowing with their sheer heat, slashed across Darunia's arm and chest, cutting furrows in his body. Snarling, the Goron retaliated with an uppercut to Volvagia's jaw that snapped the dragon's head backward.

It came back around again, fire jetting from its gaping jaws. Darunia twisted and dove aside faster than his bulk would have made him seem able to. The flames rolled past, scorching and bubbling the stone where he had stood, and the Goron stomped forward, his feet rumbling on the ground like a tumbling avalanche. Volvagia was turning to face him, readying another burst of fire, when Darunia's fist cracked into its nose.

The dragon flew backward with the force behind that blow, and then came about, thundering in fury. Fire jetted forth once more, and Darunia rolled aside, his hide rumbling on the stone floor. He rose to his feet, and then jumped aside again as Volvagia swooped down, teeth gleaming in the boiling red light.

The dragon swept past, and Darunia spun back to face it. Roaring in fury and defiance, he slapped his hands together over its molten body.

His howl became a sudden growl of pain, and then his grip tightened, pitting the will and strength of a Goron against the dragon's fire. He twisted, rocky muscles flexing, and Volvagia let out a rumble of surprise as Darunia whipped it around and slammed the dragoon down to the platform. The room shook with the impact, chunks of stone falling from the ceiling, and the Goron chieftain whooped.

He rumbled forward, raising his smoking, scorched fingers, and as Volvagia rose, shaking its obsidian head, the Goron's fists crashed down on its skull.

"Face the vengeance of my people!" he shouted, punching the dragon again, and then again, and then _again_. The chamber vibrated with each furious blow. "The will of the Gorons cannot be denied!"

A column of fire lanced up into Darunia's chest, and he was lifted off his feet by the plume of high-powered jetting flame. He rolled away, roaring in pain as parts of his chest were scorched by the tremendously hot flames of the dragon.

Volvagia whipped around and shot back up into the air, the room snarling as it did so.

_**Your will is meaningless,**_ the dragon declared. _**Your vengeance is impotent. This is **_**my**_** Temple. These Gorons are **_**my**_** food. You are **_**nothing**_**.**_

Darunia clambered to his feet, just as Volvagia hit him full in the chest, the dragon's claws gouging deep furrows in his hide, its teeth closing about his neck. There was a tremendous crash as the dragon slammed the Goron into the wall, flames licking from its mouth and blasting his skin.

"I . . . deny!" Darunia spat, and smashed his fists against the top of Volvagia's head. He hammered the dragon over and over, even as its teeth bit and gnashed at his rocky body, the claws cutting and gouging deep.

_**You **_**die**_**,**_ Volvagia corrected, the chamber rumbling with satisfaction the dragon bit and tore inexorably into its first victim in ages.

* * *

She watched, fascinated, her hands shaking. She had taken so many lives before, but here, it seemed that her foe had not.

But this was the Hero of Time, she reminded herself. Sworn enemy of Ganondorf, a fearless warrior who had cleaved through hundreds of his troops, so it was said. This same hero, just a boy, a determined man barely out of his teens, hurling his stomach out from killing a person.

She didn't hate him; how could she, having never met him before? Some of her people did, but they were the youngest or the eldest, easily swayed by stories and tradition and blind loyalty. She hated that tradition more, which bound them to serve something as vile as the King of Evil.

She looked at him, at the boy, and then looked to her sword. She wanted to hold her blade in check, but that was nothing new. She had the urge to hold it back so many times before out of contempt for her ruler, for his witches and his evil ways. But now, she wanted to withdraw, to keep her distance, not because she hated Ganondorf and his commands, but out of another, stronger emotion.

_Hope._

* * *

He wasn't sure how long it took to finally get over the sickness. Link couldn't explain why what he'd done was so fundamentally revolting, but he knew about halfway through retching his guts up that he still had a job to do. The Hylian staggered back up straight after a while, shaking his head, and stumbled toward the far door, only pausing to give one last look at the fallen bodies.

For all the nausea he felt, all the unexplained self-loathing that resulted from that, something told Link to be glad he felt that way.

He pushed it all back, trying to steel himself. Now was not the time to think; the Gorons and Darunia were counting on him, and he made the grim, unavoidable choice to press on. If he had to kill more people to save them . . . so be it.

Link moved into the doorway on the other side of the bridge, wary for another possible ambush once his senses really returned to him. He stepped into the room beyond, and was caught off-guard by what he saw. he'd already encountered one elevator in the Forest Temple, but that one had seemed to operate based on magic; this was completely different.

An enormous stone block sat in the center of a cage of iron bars, set into a depression that had the block rising just up past knee height. Link could tell it was as big as it was because as he entered the room, there was a deep, powerful hissing sound, and a tremendous gout of fire erupted underneath the block, propelling it up into the air through a hole cut into the ceiling. After about thirty seconds, the burst of fire seemed to slacken, and the block gently drifted back down into the depression, fitting securely and snugly in the hole.

"Whoever built this place was either a genius or a lunatic," Link said, hesitant to climb onto the block.

"Both?" Navi asked, and he grunted. The block began to shake after a few moments, and then launched back up into the air on another gout of flame. Link guessed it operated on one-minute intervals.

When it came back down, Link hopped up on the block and waited for it to fire again. It didn't take long, and soon the block was shaking, vibrating violently, and then his stomach sank as the walls shot past, the block lancing up into the hole up above.

"Lunatic," Link said, trying to keep himself steady as the block rose. "Definitely lunatic."

"I think you're-" Navi said, but then halted. Link tensed for a hair of a second, and then the Master Sword was in hand, his shield rising as he slid into a defensive stance-

-in time to see the white-robed Gerudo woman descend, her scimitar diving down into his chest.

* * *

_Hope._

Hope, she reminded herself, was long since forgotten in Hyrule, the land cursed by the gods.

And the blade she stabbed into the Hero's chest was all the proof she needed.

* * *

-

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_** One thing I'm aiming for in this story is to explore the clash of the fundamental innocence of Link and the rather brutal violence that his quest involves. There's going to be a lot more deconstruction of the Zelda plotline as this series progresses, and more explorations of Link's fundamental humanity and his own views on the burden he's been saddled with. Such as, for example, having to deal with the fundamental human revulsion against killing other humans.

Never fear, though; there's still going to be plenty of swords and sorcery, and lots of heroism. Its just the heroism and adventure is going to be very, very human.

Next chapter, more swords, more dragon, and a lot more blunt head trauma!

Until next chapter . . . .


	21. Chapter XX: Bloody Roar

_**Chapter XX: Bloody Roar**_

She stabbed him in the chest.

He punched her in the face.

She jerked backward at the force behind the reflexive blow, the cross-piece of the Master Sword hitting her in the head hard enough to throw her against the wall as the lift rose. The force of the rising block and the passing wall pulled her down hard enough to drop her to her rear, while Link recoiled, blood flowing from his chest. He planted his shield hand against his torso wound, the barrier shielding him from any attacks while the Master Sword rose to defend.

It wasn't bad, he quickly realized. He could still breathe without any trouble, and she'd obviously missed his heart. No vital parts were hit.

_Damned lucky, _Link realized as she kicked up to her feet. A moment later, the elevator came to a halt, the pair finding themselves standing at one end of a short corridor. Immediately, the Gerudo leapt backward off the elevator, and Link moved to pursue.

The moment his boots hit the stonework off the elevator, she was attacking again, her scimitar flashing and cutting. It rang against his shield as he raised and lowered the barrier frantically, and the Master Sword hacked and slashed around it, Link's heavy and defensive blows a marked contrast to the Gerudo's sheer speed. Her scimitar picked off his counters almost as easily as he was blocking her attacks with his shield.

Link did have one advantage, though; they were in a corridor, and he was stronger and more heavily armed. Once again, he pushed her back, bulling ahead steadily with his shield and cutting with the Master Sword to keep her from trying to circle around him. She seemed to understand his intentions, and was trying to break off to move around him.

_Bad place to choose to fight, _Link thought as he pressed on, the Master Sword chopping more aggressively. Her blade kept singing against the sword and shield, but now there was a much more defensive character to her stance as he advanced. They were almost to the end of the corridor, and she would soon either have to break off and flee through the door or be pressed against the wall.

But then she jumped off the wall and kicked Link between the eyes.

He stumbled backward, and then her blades sang against his shield. He ducked and took a few steps back, defending on raw instinct and experience, and the Master Sword struck twice in rapid succession, intercepting two potentially deadly cuts and deflecting them. He punched out with his shield, catching one of her scimitars and forcing it away, and the Master Sword hacked hard at her belly, nearly disemboweling her.

Gritting his teeth, Link set his feet, caught her charge, and slowly forced her backward once more. He glared back into those yellow eyes, locking onto them as the sword in his hand clashed and parried with hers, his shield intercepting her assaults almost automatically.

* * *

She bit back a sharp curse as he kept fighting. She'd felt her blade penetrate his armor, had seen the blood weep forward, but somehow he kept going, he kept fighting, as if he wasn't even aware he was wounded.

As if he didn't _care_ if he was injured.

She looked back into his eyes, her weapons dancing almost of their own accord, and saw a lack of fear in his features. Beneath his hood and cloak and mask, she could only see raw determination and perseverance and _pain_.

No, she realized, taking a few steps back, now on the defensive, his momentum slowly forcing her toward the wall once more. He _was_ aware of his wounds, and he _cared_ that he was wounded - but he wasn't going to let that slow him down. He pushed it all aside, pressing on, relentless.

_Fearless._

His shield slammed into one of her scimitars, knocking it down. The broadsword rang against her other blade, throwing it out wide, and he surged forward, crashing into her with all his not-inconsiderable weight.

* * *

She seemed distracted somehow. Link wasn't sure what gave it away, but he picked up a subtle feeling, which was quickly confirmed when he managed to knock both her weapons out wide. His shield and the Master Sword were also spread wide apart, leaving Link without a weapon to bring to bear against her in that instant of vulnerability, so he used the only other thing he had on hand - himself.

They crashed together hard, and he threw her off her feet. The two warriors ended up tumbling down to the floor, a tangle of limbs and blades. She shoved back against him as they rolled on the floor, and Link pushed back, taking advantage of his size and strength compared to her to force her down to the stone. He rolled over on top, shield pinning one of her arms to the floor while the Master Sword pinned her other scimitar against the stone. She released the weapon and reached for her belt, but Link had already dropped the divine blade and snatched up his Kokiri knife. He pressed the little forest blade against her throat, before she could grab another weapon off her belt.

He knew he should have stabbed the knife into her throat, but he held his hand in check.

There was a quiet moment of exhalation as the Gerudo woman seemed to take stock of the disadvantageous position she was in. There was a slight shift beneath the cloth mask covering her face, as if her mouth was changing expressions quickly.

"You're good," she finally said. Her eyebrows rose. "Go ahead, hero. Why stop?" He didn't reply, holding the knife to her neck. An echo of the dying women's screams came back to him, and he found that this close, peering into her yellow eyes, he couldn't bring himself to finish her off.

She stared back at him, and slowly pulled her arm away from her belt, holding her hand open so he could see it was empty.

"Well, now what?" she asked after a couple of seconds. "You can't bring yourself to kill me, can you?"

Link stared back, considering her words.

"No," he replied, shaking his head slowly.

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked, her voice low and quiet. She shifted slightly underneath him, in a way that Link found oddly . . . pleasant. For an instant he was distracted, and she chuckled. Her voice was dark, alluring.

He suddenly was reminded of Malon, somehow.

"Who are you?" Link asked, getting back on track. "You're Gerudo."

"Yes," she replied. "My name is Nabooru. I am the leader of the Gerudo warriors in this Temple."

"Then you know where the Gorons are," he said, and she nodded. Her body moved again beneath him, _against_ him, and Link grimaced at the pleasant distraction. "_Stop_ that." Being an adult brought all manner of unfamiliar new troubles for him.

"Or?" she asked, and he replied by pressing the knife a bit tighter against her neck. "Ah."

She mulled over that for a moment.

"You _can't_."

"Are you certain?" Link asked, and she chuckled again. Her eyes narrowed after a second.

"You're not a killer, little hero," she told him. There was a second's hesitation, and her gaze softened a hair. "That's not a bad thing, though."

The tension in her body seemed to fade, and she exhaled.

"The Gorons are locked inside the tower in the next area," Nabooru explained, glancing toward the door. "A number of my people guard the area. About fifteen, regularly."

"Do you know where the Megaton Hammer is?" Link asked, surprised at the sudden admission.

"Elevator inside the tower, just like the one we used to get here," she explained. "Takes you to the third level. No guards."

"In this place?" Link asked, and she shrugged beneath him.

"Volvagia," she explained in a single word, and Link nodded. Only a lunatic would try to do anything in a Temple controlled by that dragon.

"So," Nabooru said, shifting again beneath Link. He scowled to hide how good that felt. "Now what are you going to do with me?"

He wasn't sure, but Link knew he couldn't kill her. Not like this. But if he let her get up, she might go for her weapons again. He didn't have a way to secure or restrain her either, which meant-

"Well, let me solve that dilemma for you," Nabooru said. There was a small, subtle shift to her demeanor, which Link didn't catch until her hand flew out, and he caught sight of another of those flash grenades as it leapt from the inside of her sleeve. He jerked back, completely unable to escape the flash, which erupted in his eyes as she rolled away. Blazing whiteness filled his vision as he scrambled back up onto his feet, raising his shield protectively, bracing for her counterattack.

Long seconds passed, Link's vision swimming back into place, the painful whiteness slowly being replaced by the dull red glow of the Temple, and he found that . . . .

She was gone. Again.

The door leading out of the corridor slammed shut as Link lowered his shield, and he grunted angrily. He dashed toward it and slammed into the doorway with his shoulder as hard as he could, not wanting to let her-

"Link, don't-" Navi was saying.

He bounced hard off the door, his shoulder loudly protesting as he dropped onto his rear.

" . . . the hinges are on the this side," she murmured.

"Ouch."

He rose a few moments later, rubbing his aching shoulder. This time, he opened the door more conventionally, using his sword arm and with his shield raised in case of an ambush on the other side.

None came. Instead, Link found himself stepping out into a massive, open area, and for a few seconds he thought he'd actually left the Temple itself. Instead, he realized, he was in a gigantic chamber, the ceiling rising high up into the air, with worked rock walls surrounding the room. In the center of the chamber was a large stone tower rising up toward the ceiling. Rock walls divided portions of the chamber, and short pillars about twice his height were scattered around the chamber at even intervals.

He edged forward, alert for any ambush. Link slowly turned around, getting a feel for the area as he moved forward, toward the tower, and stepped between two of the pillars.

He felt something, a faint hiss of changing air pressure, and then flash of warning. He leapt backward even as he heard the echo of Navi's cry of danger, and a wall of flame roared into place between the two pillars.

"Too close," he breathed as he stared at the raging wall of fire before him. "Thanks, Navi."

"Yeah," she replied, exhaling as well. Her voice was close, right in his ear.

"What was that?" Link asked, looking around the room at the pillars.

"Magical trap of some kind," she explained, and he nodded, pulling a bomb out of his pouch. He stepped around to another set of pillars, and, staying a fair distance back, tossed the bomb through the gap.

A wall of flame leapt up instantly, searing the bomb and igniting its explosive contents. Nodding, he pulled out another bomb and moved to another pair of pillars.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he tossed the bomb through the gap. A sheet of flame obliterated that one as well.

"There has to be a way through these pillars," he said. "The Gerudo got the Gorons through so . . . ."

This time when the bomb sailed though the gap, no fire erupted. Link stepped through the safe spot, scooping up the bomb, and threw it through the next set of pillars. Fire leapt up, incinerating the bomb and setting it off at the same time.

Through trial and error - and about ten of his bombs Link thought ruefully - they negotiated the fire-trap maze, and reached the center of the chamber, with the tower looming up overhead. He drew the Master Sword and readied his shield, and moved up to the incongruous door set into the wall.

* * *

The flames bit into the rents and tears in his hide, and pain flared through his body - pain which he hadn't felt in a long, long time. It woke him up, sharpened his senses, and sent a surge of strength through the stone and iron running through his body.

Darunia clenched his fists as Volvagia bit and tore, and slammed them down into the dragon's skull. It shook, but held on stubbornly, and Darunia struck again, and again. Each impact was chased by a furious shout, the blows gaining momentum and his yells intensifying in fury as he hammered away.

There was a faint shift in the pressure against his torso, and Darunia twisted, thrashing violently, hammering Volvagia as its breathed its spiteful fires into his body, and suddenly he broke free, giving the dragon a hard uppercut that would shatter a boulder. It recoiled, and he punched it again with all his strength, knuckles smashing it on the nose so hard that it went flying backward.

"I am _not!_ Dead! Yet!" the Goron chieftain roared in defiance. "A true son of the Goron people does not lay down and surrender, dragon!"

Volvagia came about, the chamber bubbling and hissing with its fury as it did so.

_**Your spirit is commendable, Goron, **_it said, jaws clacking. The Goron chieftain heard a sudden intake of air, and leapt aside as the dragon loosed a narrow cone of white-hot fire that scorched and bubbled the rock where he'd been standing. As Darunia came out of his roll, he slammed both fists into the ground, and flexed his mighty muscles.

Volvagia dove after the burst of flames, straight for Darunia, jaws wide and preparing to snap down on him again. Just as it reached him, the Goron whipped around, bringing the hunk of stone he'd torn up down on the dragon's head so hard that the rock shattered on impact. Volvagia recoiled, and Darunia punched it again, scoring a blow right on one of its bulbous green eyes.

The howl of pain from the dragon was one of the most satisfying things he'd ever heard.

* * *

In retrospect, openly walking into the area where the Gorons were being held by a number of armed guards wasn't a terribly brilliant idea. But then, neither was dodging magical fire traps with explosives. Both of these things occurred to Link as he desperately tried to keep his face un-perforated by Gerudo scimitars.

The room he'd entered was a long hallway lined by iron-barred cells, and inside the cells were the lumpy, rocky forms of the Goron prisoners. The warrior women guarding them had spotted and attacked him almost immediately, about half of them moving straight toward Link while the remainder lingered by the Goron cells. The mountain folk themselves had begun shouting and slamming against the cell bars, and Gerudo guards were yelling back, jabbing with their scimitars at the noisiest of the captured warriors. A couple of the Gerudo were also standing on a ledge over one line of cells, refusing to move from their position.

He moved his shield back and forth, deflecting attacks from multiple directions, and was glad that the hallway wasn't too wide - it prevented them from flanking him unless they moved close to the cell walls, which would put them in arms-length of the Gorons. Even so, Link was working hard to keep a half-dozen scimitars at bay, the warrior women pressing him viciously, their blades hammering at his shield and the Master Sword. With the fury of their attack, he couldn't even get in a single counter.

He had to get out of this before they overwhelmed him. His first thought was the door he'd come in through, but that would just reduce them to a stalemate. On the other hand, in this room . . . .

Link took a step back, parried two slashes with the Master Sword, and deflected another strike with his shield. He ducked and spun under a pair of chops, hacking across with the holy blade and taking one of the Gerudo in the thigh. She dropped to one knee, crying out in pain, and Link stepped around her, keeping her between him and his foes for the second he needed.

Link released his shield hand's grip, and with a flick of his wrist and a punching motion, he discarded it. With his unencumbered hand, Link snatched the clawshot off his belt and deflected another attack with the Master Sword, the blades scraping together. His right hand shot up toward the ceiling over the ledge, and the clawshot lanced out, striking the rock ceiling. The metal talons clacked together, digging a purchase into the unworked stone. As the Gerudo women closed in on all sides, he shot up into the air.

Link twisted the clawshot's trigger as he flew over the ledge, and the claws released. He dropped to the ledge, rolling with the momentum, just as the two Gerudo on guard duty rushed toward him. As he shot to his feet, Link saw what they were defending: a switch set into the wall.

He didn't have his shield, so that meant a shift in his stance. Link moved his left foot forward, and twisted the clawshot's trigger, opening the talons. The Master Sword lanced up, parrying a scimitar, and he ducked beneath another cut. He twisted and spun in place, rolling around the Gerudo, the Master Sword working over his head to deflect a rain of scimitars. As he came out of the spin, Link launched into a counter, the heavy blade hacking left and right against the Gerudos' smaller curved weapons. They rang and scraped in rapid succession, and he drove one of the women back.

The style was familiar. It felt like years past when he was using this same fencing methodology with sticks and his Kokiri friends . . . .

The second Gerudo stepped around to his right and tried to attack his flank while he was facing her partner. She stabbed both blades at him, one high, the other low.

He whirled toward her, dropping into a low crouch, and the clawshot rose, firing. It struck the lower blade, and the impact caused the talons to snap shut over her weapon. The force behind the clawshot sent the scimitar flying out of her hands and across the room.

Link dropped the clawshot, spinning below her striking blade, and came out of the rotation with his right elbow leading. It slammed into her temple, hurling the surprised warrior off her feet. He quickly kicked her other scimitar away, and came about in time to parry and deflect two more cuts from the other warrior. The Gerudo snarled a curse at him as he knocked her weapons aside, and he stepped into the gap before she could reset her defenses. Link's shoulder met her chest, and he launched the smaller woman backward, off the ledge.

That taken care of, Link ran toward the switch and threw it, guessing its purpose based on the guards' presence.

Below, he heard the clatter of cells opening, the jubilant shouts of Goron warriors, and a moment later, the meaty impact of stone on flesh.

Movement out the corner of his eye caught his attention. The Gerudo he had disarmed was sitting up, and he leveled the Master Sword at her. She froze in place, eyes locked on the blade pointed at her throat.

After a second, Link lowered the weapon.

"Go on," he said, gesturing toward the door leading out of the chamber. The Gorons were too busy fighting the Gerudo guards to block it off. "Leave this place, while you can."

She glanced to her scimitar, lying on the other end of the ledge, then back up to Link, before rising to her feet. With a venomous glare, the Gerudo ran to the edge of the platform, dropped off, and disappeared out the door.

With her gone, the Hylian turned and looked back down over the chaos below. He retrieved his clawshot, setting it on his belt, and then dropped down into the chaos.

The Gerudo were skilled warriors, and a small number of Gorons wouldn't have been able to overcome them. Indeed, the Gerudo had been capturing Goron patrols piecemeal, two or three at a time, over the last few months. Link, however, had released more than two _dozen_ of the mountain folk in an enclosed space, and they rolled into the Gerudo like a rockslide. Even unarmed, they were excellent warriors in their own right, and the lithe Gerudo women were unable to use their speed and agility in close quarters.

Within a couple of minutes, the Gorons, with Link's help, had killed or incapacitated all of the guards using raw, brute strength. A number of them bore nasty gouges in their stony hides from the Gerudo weapons, but none of them had been killed in the brutally one-sided escape. The mountain folk hammered their chests and the walls, cheering and shouting as they stood victorious over their foes.

"Stranger!" called one of the Gorons, laughing and waving his hands at Link. "The people of Death Mountain owe you a mighty debt!" Link nodded, and then belatedly realized he was about to get swept up into another bear hug. He gritted his teeth as the Goron warrior crushed him up against his chest, but the hug was nowhere near as painful as Darunia's legendary glomphs.

"I, uh, did what I had to do," Link replied as he found himself being surrounded by jubilant Goron soldiers.

"What is your name, Brother?" one of them asked. Link hesitated, and then pulled down the cloth mask over his nose and mouth. Gorons preferred things direct and blunt anyway.

"My name is Link," he said. "Sworn Brother of Darunia."

There were a couple of heartbeats of surprised silence, but then the Gorons were so loud that Link thought the room was going to collapse on them. They jumped up and down, bellowing and cheering, arms slamming against their chests.

"I knew Darunia would not abandon his people in their hour of need!" yelled one of the Gorons, and the others echoed the sentiment.

"Where is our Chieftain now?" another asked. "Is he smiting more of the puny flammable Gerudo?"

"Worse," Link replied, not sure how to break it to them. He hesitated, and the Gorons seemed to calm down, and then grew a little unsettled by his silence.

"He's fighting Volvagia," Link finally said, settling on the simple and blunt.

The Gorons' response was just as rock-shaking, but nowhere near as cheery. They let out roars of dismay and shouts of anger, and the stamping of a dozen enraged Goron feet filled the chamber. One of them let out a cry to war, and the others assented, shouting curses and oaths against Volvagia and Ganondorf.

"Wait, no!" Link said quickly, holding his hands up to placate the Gorons. By now they were getting _very_ worked up, some grabbing the fallen Gerudo scimitars, which looked like letter openers in their hands. Others were hammering the iron bars of the cells, trying to pull them loose in their anger. "Listen to me! You can't-"

_"HEY! LISTEN!" _Navi suddenly yelled, her voice blasting Link's eardrums in such close proximity. He jerked, shocked at how loud she could be, and the Gorons stopped in mid-riot.

"Look, you can't," Link said as his hearing began to come back, a painful ringing in his the ear closest to Navi. How had she pulled _that_ one off?

"What do you mean, Brother?" demanded one of the angry-sounding Gorons, slamming his fists together.

"Darunia sent me to rescue _you_," Link explained. "He was going to keep Volvagia busy, while you escaped."

The Gorons paused, looking back and forth between each other, murmuring in surprise and confusion. They started to whisper and jabber among themselves, which somehow made Link think of a thunderstorm trying to be stealthy. He watched them argue and discuss, and knew he didn't have the time to wait on them.

"Look, you can argue this all you want," Link yelled, catching their attention again. "But Darunia told me to get you out of here."

"We won't abandon our Chieftain!" one of them shouted. The others assented.

"What good can you do?" Link replied. They had to see reason, though these _were_ Gorons . . . . "This is Volvagia you're dealing with. Darunia is fighting it now to give you the time to escape! Do you want his sacrifice to mean nothing?"

_That_ got their attention. The Gorons looked back and forth, hissing and mumbling to one another, and finally there seemed to be some form of group assent.

"If Darunia's last wish is that he wants us to flee, then we can't let him down," replied one of the Gorons, and the others rumbled in agreement. Link found the grimness of his tone disturbing.

"It won't be his last," Link replied, and the Goron leader nodded.

"If there's anyone who can save our Chieftain, it would be his Sworn Brother!" The others rumbled and shouted, agreeing with their impromptu leader. He pounded his chest, the impact shaking Link's teeth.

"May Din and the fire spirits protect you," he added. "But I do not think you can defeat Volvagia without the Megaton Hammer."

"Darunia asked me to find that too," Link said, and the Goron nodded. He pointed to the door at the other end of the cell block.

"There should be a lift past there that will take you to the chamber where we stored the Hammer. I do not know if the Gerudo moved it, but I doubt their little muscles were able to even lift it."

Link nodded in thanks, and the Goron pounded his chest again in salute.

"We leave, Brother," he spoke, his voice solemn. "Keep our Chieftain safe."

"I will," Link promised, and hoped he could keep it.

* * *

Fire poured into his face.

Darunia roared, recoiling, and then belted Volvagia across the head with both fists. The dragon flew backward, hissing and snarling, the lava in the chamber bubbling in sympathy. The Goron stepped backward, clutching his face with one hand as molten rock streamed from his body.

_**Your end is inevitable, **_the chamber shook. _**I will have you, mighty Chieftain. A most satisfying meal-**_

Darunia punched Volvagia in the jaw, snarling. He raised his other hand to pound down into the top of the dragon's skull when it whipped around, slamming him with its boiling-hot serpentine body. Darunia's hide hissed and darkened as he rolled backward, and pushed himself up to his feet. Pain lanced up his arm as Volvagia snapped its jaws down on his wrist and bit, twisting and thrashing like a savage wolf.

Darunia's fist hammered the dragon as it bit and tore, its claws digging into his hide. He kept punching the malevolent, flaming beast as it attacked, his clenched hand beating its eyes as he shook and thrashed right back.

Suddenly, Volvagia reared up, releasing his arm, and Darunia punched out with all his might, hitting the masked dragon on the nose and rocking its head back. He leapt at the beast, wrapping one arm around its neck at the base of its skull, and kept hitting it. The Goron grit his teeth, molten rock rolling from his hide as he pounded his foe. Fire jetted from its throat, and he felt his skin being scorched and slowly heating up from contact with the dragon's burning body, but Darunia pushed through it, refusing to yield.

"The Gorons . . . will . . . be . . . free of you!" he yelled.

The Volvagia lifted up, and shot into the air, dragging Darunia along with it. The roaring, screaming dragon whipped about and crashed into the wall where the doors were set into the stone, and the Goron felt a massive impact.

Stone ripped, iron bent, and they slammed straight through into the antechamber of the Temple itself. Growling in determination, ignoring his horrific wounds and the pain lancing through his body, Darunia held on, refusing to surrender.

* * *

Link stepped off the lift beyond the prison block, and found himself standing within another massive circular chamber, dominated by the long, winding, wide staircase running up the left side of the room. He quickly pulled up the cloth mask as the scathing air beat down against him, and started up the stairs, seeing an immense platform up above at the top of the steps. In the air above, he could spot more of the burning bat-like creatures circling around, but their movements were aimless and they showed no signs of noticing him.

A few minutes later, Link had reached the top of the stairs, frowning as he walked toward a wide stone platform, upon which was placed a large stone box. Goron runes he couldn't read festooned the box, and Link could see it was set with many small gemstones and worked silver.

It wasn't locked or latched, and Link tried to open it, only to find the lid didn't want to budge. Link stepped back, frowning again, and wondered if there was some other way to get it open, and then remembered a simple fact: this thing had been built by Gorons, after all.

He exhaled, popped his neck and slapped his hands together, and then grabbed the top of the lid. His muscles tightened and bunched, and he lifted quickly and suddenly. Link grunted and strained, slowly raising the lid, and in the back of his mind he was grateful that he hadn't suffered any loss of strength during his long sleep. The lid slowly lifted backward, and Link moved his hands around to grip the top underneath the lip, and pushed as he strained.

Suddenly, the weight slackened, as the lid got high enough up that gravity pulled it in the opposite direction. It crashed loudly against the floor, and Link exhaled, his muscles aching from the strain. Trust the Gorons to require sheer brute strength instead of keys and locks. He rubbed his biceps as he looked down into the chest, and was momentarily dumbstruck.

Within the chest, sitting on a stone rack, was a glittering, polished warhammer two-thirds Link's height. Its head was enormous, as long as his chest was wide, and the head's width was half across as its length. It was inlaid with hundreds of runes and markings, with tiny etchings of Gorons running around it. Despite its age and the hellish conditions, the hammer seemed flawless and undamaged, still retaining its polished sheen.

Link reached down and picked up the Megaton Hammer, grunting as he tried to lift it. The weight was incredible, and he found he couldn't even lift the weapon without using both hands. He carefully hauled the weapon up, straining his already aching back, and marveled at how strong the Gorons' champions had to be if they could use a hammer like this with ease.

There was a low rumbling in the chamber as Link hefted the hammer, wondering how he was going to get this thing back down to Darunia in time. He turned away, and started walking down the steps, his arms hurting just trying to carry the thing. Finally, Link set the massive weapon down and reached into his pack, pulling out some rope. It would be easier if he just carried it on his back with the rest of his gear instead of tried to use his arms . . . .

The low rumbling came back, and he felt a vibration run through the chamber.

"Link, you feel that?" Navi asked, and he nodded. He quickly began to tie the rope around the Hammer, and then the rumbling sounded again, much closer. A rasping scream sounded somewhere below, and Link swore it felt like the Temple itself was crying out.

He froze, then dropped the Megaton Hammer, and drew the Master Sword, just as the floor of the chamber far below shattered upwards, rock and debris flying into the air. A sinewy form leapt through the hole, a hulking stony shape holding onto its back, yelling and punching with its free hand.

"Darunia!" Link yelled as the dragon slammed into one of the walls and started flying up it, trying to scrape the obstinate Goron off. Link looked around the room, trying to find a way down to the chamber below, but realized the only safe way down was probably the lift he'd just taken to get up there.

Volvagia whipped around suddenly, trying to throw Darunia off with raw momentum, and succeeded. The Goron's grip failed and he went flying back down below, crashing into the stone tower in the center of the room and then dropping to the floor below. He shook his head, trying to stand and ignore the pain running through him, and he paused, thinking he'd heard an echo from somewhere above. Bits and flashes of fire went off in random parts of the room, doubtless the flame traps that had been set in this room, now shattered and broken.

He turned, facing the dragon as it came about, dropping into a dive. Fire bloomed from its mouth, washing around its teeth as it descended, claws wide and ready to dig into his hide, jaws, open and slavering little rivulets of lava. Darunia grunted, setting his feet, and clenched his fists. He prayed Link had at least managed to save his kin, because he had almost run out of time to hold the monster off.

The ground shook, and Darunia heard an impact of metal on stone about fifty feet away. He looked down, peeling his eyes away from the dragon, and heard a sudden screech of surprise from Volvagia, rippling off the walls of the vast chamber.

Lying in a small, cracked crater of stone, was the Megaton Hammer.

Gorons weren't credited for their speed, but at that moment Darunia dispelled any notions that their breed was slow. He bolted across the room, laughing in unbelieving hope as he did so, and Volvagia shifted its angle to target the hammer.

Link saw it diving to intercept, and he slid the Master Sword back into its sheath, before pulling the enchanted bow off his back. He drew an arrow from the quiver at his waist, nocked it, and drew the string back.

"Sorry," he heard Navi whisper helplessly in his ear, and he shrugged.

"Not your fault," he replied, sighting down the arrow. He held his breath, lined up his target so far below, and released.

Volvagia was only a dozen meters away, and Darunia heard a sharp inhalation of coming hellfire. He gritted his teeth, holding on to his one last hope, and knew that he probably wasn't going to last much longer. Another burst of flames would cut right through his stone hide and into his body, and then-

Volvagia screeched, and a tiny flare of burning wood appeared on the monster's flank, right above where its spindly arms met its body. It whipped around, cries of agony exploding from the walls and echoing over again. Flames belched from its mouth, the arrowhead buried in its back where it would be a nightmare to dig back out.

As the dragon roared and thrashed, it didn't hear the shout of fury from the Goron Chieftain, nor did it see the glittering head of worked, magical steel whip about and swing toward its skull.

Volvagia did, however, _feel_ it most acutely.

The monster flew backward, tiny shards of its mask fracturing and flying into the air. Its cries of agony reverberated off the walls, deafening both Goron and Hylian.

"Now, I stand on even footing, dragon!" Darunia roared, pushing back the pain and weakness he knew was going to end him soon. "Come now, and face me with honor!"

Fire lanced down at him, and he lurched out of the way. The dragon descended as the floor where Darunia had stood bubbled and popped, and its jaws snapped and bit at him, gouging deep furrows in his hide. He let out another yell of defiance and came around, the Megaton Hammer descending.

The mask broke. Bone and metal shaped around the vile dragon's skull shattered, flying in all directions. A thrill of elation, a taste of true, satisfying victory ran through Darunia

Volvagia's head, now a naked shape of flame and evil, snapped back around as he raised the Hammer, and then all the Goron Chieftain knew was sheer, undeniable heat.

* * *

From his position, Link couldn't get a good shot at the dragon - or at least, he wasn't confident he could get another one. Instead, after he'd dropped the Megaton Hammer to the floor far below, he dashed back toward the lift that had led him up this high in the chamber.

Link emerged from the cell block in time to see Darunia sink to his knees The Hylian came to a halt as he saw the Goron's body, the stone hide blackened in places and glowing red hot in others. Ashes and cinders surrounded him, and Link realized with horror that these were parts of Darunia's skin, fallen off during the savage struggle.

He raised the Megaton Hammer, struggling to his feet, and then Volvagia, its flaming face exposed, crashed into him, a screech of enraged triumph resounding from the Temple itself.

Link was moving, dashing toward the confrontation with the Master Sword raised, and was distantly aware of a pain in the back of his throat.

Not again. _Not. Again._

He heard Darunia roar, the dragon snarl, and saw a tangle of stone and blistering fire. There was flashing light, the impact of stone and metal, and then a sudden, drawn-out thunder of elation and victory.

Volvagia whipped about, and a blackened mass of rock, crumbling and charred, flew into the air and rolled past Link. He spun out of the way, and then heard Navi's gasp of shock and disbelief.

Link didn't look back. He didn't need to.

He saw the Megaton Hammer lying on the floor beside Volvagia, a Goron hand still gripping its handle, and a wave of painful guilt rolled over him, chased by hatred and rage.

He was back in the depths of the Forest Temple, looking at the specter of Ganondorf, and its blood-stained spear. Knowing, without a doubt, that his oldest friend, who he had been playing with less than a month ago, was dead - _murdered_. His knees weak, his body locked up in shock and grief, and his mind clouded by unbreakable fury.

Except he could have done something about it this time, if only . . . if only he . . . .

The Master Sword twitched in his hand, and that tiniest of tactile sensations brought Link back to here and now. He looked up, hearing the rush of flames descending toward him.

Volvagia dove down at him, fire billowing from its exposed face, shining green eyes glittering with malevolent hunger.

Its jaws snapped at Link, the dragon not bothering with flame up close for such a relatively easy victim. The fangs, sharp enough to rend stone and the jaws behind them strong enough to break rock, instead scraped against Link's shield. He sidestepped, redirecting the monster's mighty momentum, and with a furious shout of rage and pain, he brought the Master Sword down.

The holy blade bit into the dragon's fiery hide, parting the flesh and sending a gout of heat blasting outwards as it passed. Volvagia recoiled, crying out in pain, and Link followed through with another mighty, infuriated cleave. The blade cut in once more, striking the dragon across its chest, and it leapt away, its agonized howls clawing at his ears.

Link knew he couldn't let the same rage he'd felt in the Forest Temple drive him, but the flashing image of Darunia's corpse flared up in his mind, and Link somehow knew that his anger and the hatred he was feeling, beating against his skull and his chest like a righteous fury, was somehow right. What had Sheik told him?

_"You have to be careful, tempering your passion with all other feelings and emotions. Rational thought must balance your fury. Otherwise, this war is over before it begins." _

To hell with that. Who was he to tell Link what he should and shouldn't feel? Was here, now, fighting this dragon? Had he just watched it fling aside the body of one of the greatest heroes and souls he'd ever known?

He was the _goddessesdamned Hero of Time_.

Volvagia came about, trying to recover, and the Master Sword cleaved again, biting through foul, burning flesh. Link let his rage speak, hacking and slashing at the dragon, the divine blade seeming to encourage his frenzy of violence. This was not the Forest Temple. This was not an enemy goading him into mindless rage. This was _right_. He knew that in his heart - the same righteous fury that had come over him when he'd held that little carved ocarina, Saria's . . . .

The image of her face, now so distant, welled up before Link, and the Master Sword, despite its entreaties to continue smiting his foe, suddenly felt slack in his hands.

_Saria_. What would she think of this wild rage? Was she watching now? Looking at him as he fell into his own uncontrolled fury?

Volvagia's claws flew up, slamming into his armor and hitting Link right where Nabooru had stabbed him. He flew backward, blood welling up from the still-fresh wound, and he let out a cry of pain as he rolled away.

_**That . . . that sword.**_

Link scrambled to his feet, and his shield rang against Volvagia's claws. He slid into a guarded stance and countered with a quick swipe that nicked the dragon's arm, making it leap backward and circle around, hissing and snarling. Link watched it back away, and knew his momentum had been lost in that instance of self-doubt.

_**I know that sword. **_Volvagia glared down at Link, the chamber crackling and hissing as it spoke. _**That means that **_**you**_** are the Hero.**_

Link stared back, matching its gaze, and heard the chamber rumble, as if the dragon was laughing.

_**You stopped me from razing the village. I suppose I should return the favor. I've already consumed that obstinate Goron, so now I should move on to easier prey.**_

Link glanced down, at the blackened mound behind him, and steeled himself. He set his feet, turned back toward Volvagia. His rage was still burning, but Link pushed it back, holding it in check, lest he leap into another frantic, savage emotional charge. It was goading him, _wanting_ him to attack it.

Several long heartbeats passed, the two meeting each others' gaze even and unblinking, and then the dragon snorted.

Volvagia dove, body snapping like a fiery whip and with a howl of hunger. Link struck, arm pumping with a blast of vengeful fury and a yell of rage.

The dragon rolled aside, screeching once more. A chunk of molten stone flew through the air, in the shape of one of its horns, neatly severed. It whipped back toward Link, loosing a burst of flame where he stood.

He was already diving back and to the side, and as he came up, he pumped his sword arm. The Master Sword, with what felt like a song of elation, leapt from his hand and hurtled through the air. It tumbled end over end, gleaming with holy light in the shining golden fires, and plunged straight through the incredible heat of the dragon's breath.

Volvagia's scream shook the chamber, and it toppled backward, a meter of solid, divine steel buried in its mouth, locking its jaws open. It thrashed and twisted, scrabbling at the unyielding metal that _burned_ with heat it had never felt before, searing away at its very malevolent existence. The dragon rolled and thrashed, twisting and howling, leaving long, burnt trails on the stone floor from its body.

Its claws repeatedly touched the blade, but every time it grabbed the sword, the dragon felt impossible agony fly through its whole body, as if it was being smote by power beyond its comprehension. It struggled against the weapon, seeking an escape, any relief it could against the pain.

Then a blow of impossible suffering flew through the dragon's body, and Volvagia flopped over, dazed and shocked and still burning from the holy weapon thrust through its mouth. It rolled onto its side, body limp for a heartbeat, and looked up.

Link, Hero of Time, Sworn Brother of Darunia, stood over it, holding the Megaton Hammer. His face was red with exertion underneath his mask as he carried the immense warhammer, but his blue eyes pierced into the dragon's own, and Volvagia, the scourge of Death Mountain and thousand-times cursed enemy of the Goron race, felt a very chilling and alien emotion running through its fiery body.

Sheer, stark terror.

Link said nothing - or at least, nothing articulate. He let his rage and fury and hatred roll out in one long, echoing cry, and those emotions fueled the strength he needed to raise the Hammer one last time, and bring it down.

And for an instant, the entire Fire Temple shook.

* * *

-

* * *

**_Author's Notes: _**Well, that took too damn long.

This chapter was originally significantly longer, including scenes where Death Mountain is cleansed and Link and Darunia's chat after the end of the battle, but it didn't work well with the dramatic end to this chapter, so I moved things around.

With this chapter, I've started touching on another element of Link's rather unique condition, where he's finally starting to become truely aware of the differences between being an adult and a child. I'm interpreting him as being around his very late teens - generally, eighteen or nineteen years old, and as such he's dealing with some hormone issues and a whole mess of biological impulses he wasn't even aware of when he was a kid. That's why the adult Link in this story is so easily angered and gets moody. And, of course, he's going to have to deal with the unfortunate fact that every woman in Hyrule is after a fine young hunk of Hero when he _really_ doesn't need that kind of distraction on top of the massive range of other issues he's got to deal with.

Until next chapter . . . .


	22. Chapter XXI: Bolero

_**Chapter XXI: Bolero**_

"No guarantees," the heavyset man in the blue vest and shorts said, his beefy arms crossed. He scowled at the damages around the village, shaking his head. "I can have all this fixed in a few weeks."

Impa nodded as the carpenter surveyed Kakariko, and wished the man had still had his full staff on hand, as he had during the village's frantic growth after the evacuation. As it was, he only had a couple of men on hand, and a few untrained volunteers from the village itself.

A shout sounded from the village's watchtower, pulling he rout of her musings. The Shiekah and the carpenter boss looked up into the sky, shielding their eyes, and saw the guard in the tower frantically pointing at the mountain.

The raging red halo around it still burned, but something was happening. Red light was rising up from it, and then began to rise from the entire area around the mountain. Soldiers and villagers alike stopped their work, gasping and pointing as the light formed into mist, and then clouds, pulled up into the sky around the halo.

Then, the red clouds began to flow upwards, and the land shook. Death Mountain seemed to tremble as the bloody mists ascended above it, and then there was a sudden bloom of fire from its crown, shooting into the sky. Impa watched, awestruck, as it swirled into the sky rather than drop to the ground, and the mists and clouds rolled up after it.

There was a detonation, a thunderclap that threw her to the ground, and a ringing filled her ears. Beside her, the carpenter was hurled a dozen feet away by the blast that swept over the village. She quickly scrambled back up to her feet, wondering what ill portent this was, and then stopped as she looked upon the mountain.

A thin, quiet and serene ring of brown clouds swirled around Death Mountain's summit. Blue skies stretched overhead, white clouds drifting past. She felt a tickle of a breeze, fresh and wholesome, drift down from the north, for the first time in seven long years.

"Impa!" the carpenter yelled, running toward her. "What happened? Did you see that? What was that?"

Impa smiled, understanding just what had taken place.

"That was the Hero," she replied, as much to herself as to the man. She looked to him, and nodded.

"Death Mountain is cleansed."

* * *

"Its . . . pretty," he said, looking around the room, smiling. "Needs more rock though. Too much water."

Link wasn't sure whether to feel guilt or elation as the blue light faded, depositing him in that darkened, serene chamber in the heart of the Temple of Light. Across from him, arms crossed, body no longer marred by agony or battle scars, was the towering form of Darunia.

"Darunia," Link said. He managed a smile, tired as it was, and the Goron looked back toward his Sworn Brother, laughing.

He hadn't expected this. He knew that by clearing the Temple of its evil, he would help awaken the Sage, but . . . .

"Can you believe it?" Darunia asked, laughing again. "The moment I saw those flames, and I knew it was over, I realized what my destiny was! I held the Hammer, and I knew my purpose. The Sage of Fire . . . ."

"I couldn't save you," Link started. "I tried to get the Hammer as fast as-"

"No, Link," Darunia replied, shaking his head. "It didn't matter. All I needed was to hold it, Brother, and then I knew. I had no fear, because I knew what I was. But to think, of all people, me!" He burst out laughing again. It died down after a few seconds, as he looked at Link, and saw the crestfallen look on his Brother's face.

"Don't blame yourself," Darunia said, his smile never fading.

"That's two friends I've failed," Link said and then the chamber shook as Darunia stomped his foot on the pedestal.

"Hey, Brother!" he said, crossing his arms again. "You're the Hero. Not just _a_ Hero, but _the_ Hero of Time! I can't have you moping around like this!" He pounded a hand against his chest.

"Life, death, it is all irrelevant!" he proclaimed. "Whether we live or die, what matters is what we make of it! And Link, Brother, I will tell you now that this destiny, to be the Sage of Fire, is something so important, so profound . . . ." He laughed again. "No Goron could ask for a better end!"

Link stared back, considering his words, and the heavy weight of guilt slowly loosened itself from his shoulders. He straightened, nodding. He couldn't feel like this when his friend was so clearly happy about this fate.

Darunia's smile grew.

"Barock shall rule in my stead," he declared. "I will watch over you on your journey, Link. The Goron people are in your debt forever."

Link nodded, and pounded his chest in response. The blue light began to surge around him, and he heard Darunia's laughter as it filled his vision.

"To call you my Brother, Link," he heard him shout across the gap, "I could ask for no greater honor than this!"

The light consumed Link, and he let his guilt go, carried away by his friend's laughter, and he felt . . . at peace.

* * *

The light faded, and the pain began to swell up within him again, even as the dim red light of the Death Mountain Crater surrounded him once more. Link looked up and around the sulfuric landscape, and saw the place had quieted since he'd entered the Temple.

In his off hand, he realized, he still held the Megaton Hammer.

He took a couple of steps away from the entrance to the Temple, and then found himself on his knees. He blinked, his eyes tearing up in the sharp, acidic air, and heard Navi crying his name out, as if from a great distance. The pain flared up in his chest, and he started to topple forward.

Something arrested his fall, and it took Link a few seconds to process what had happened. He looked up, feeling a pressure on his chest, a hand holding him up, and looked into a pair of blood-red eyes, behind thick wrappings and a red cloak.

"Sheik," he said after a couple of seconds. He smiled behind the cloth mask over his nose and mouth. "Glad you could join me."

"Come on, stand up," the Shiekah said, leaning down and raising him up on one shoulder. "You look like hell."

"I feel like it," Link replied, and chuckled. His chest hurt. Now that the rush of battle was fading, his injuries were catching up with him.

"You've gotten - oof - heavy," Sheik added. "Heavier than I thought you were."

"Its this," Link said, gesturing with the Hammer. The Shiekah looked down at the weapon, and then back up to Link as they started away from the Temple.

"Where is Darunia?' Sheik asked, and Link sighed.

"He . . . ." he paused. "He became the Sage of Fire," he finally said after a few moments. "Just like . . . ."

"Your other friend," Sheik said, nodding. "Saria."

"Yeah," Link bit out. "Just like Saria."

Several long minutes passed as they limped away. The caldera continued rumbling distantly.

"I'm . . . sorry," Sheik said after a while. "I would have helped, if . . . ."

"Nothing you could have done," Link mumbled, shaking his head. "This is . . . this crap is my burden. Not yours."

"Its not your burden alone," Sheik disagreed. "We all have our own faults and failings, and reasons to fight for this."

"Yeah?" Link asked. "What's yours?"

Sheik chuckled darkly for a few moments.

"Maybe later." A few heartbeats passed. "What about you, mythical hero? Where'd you come from?"

Link mulled over that one for a bit, considering what had sent him on this lunatic quest. Months ago, he had been living in his forest, not caring anything about the outside world, and now he'd found himself hurled headlong into a world he barely understood, on a quest he didn't really grasp the full scope of yet, and had both made and lost so many friends over the course of that quest . . . .

"Nowhere," Link finally said, feeling that same heavy weight of responsibility settle over his shoulders. He exhaled, and felt his legs start to deaden. "Are we there yet?"

"No, why?" Sheik asked.

"Because I'm tired," Link mumbled. "Hold on a moment, let me . . . ." He blinked, his head feeling light and his vision growing dark. His eyelids drooped, weighted and heavy. The realization of what was happening jolted Link back to awareness for an instant.

"I think I'm about to pass . . . ."

The soft, volcanic ash at his feet suddenly jumped up into Link's face, darkness swam up to claim him, and he didn't want to argue with it.

* * *

He was loading up his horse, his sword strapped to his back, when a sudden icy cold flew through his body. Pain wracked his core, and he dropped to one knee, gasping in surprise and confusion. He clutched his chest, his heart tightening, and the pain slowly faded into a deep, dull ache.

"That is your lifeforce," came a deep voice behind him, and he looked up, seeing the immense form of the King of Evil looming up overhead. He would have bowed, but he was already on one knee anyway.

"What . . . hap . . . penned, Master?" he asked, uncertain. The King of Evil crossed his arms, glaring down at his creation, and snorted.

"One of the Temples has fallen," he mused. The creature took a few deep breaths, and started to rise to his feet to address his master properly.

" . . . why?" he managed.

"You and the power in those Temples are inextricably linked," Ganondorf replied. "As that power fades, so does your life. What limited life you have."

The creature rubbed his chest, the ache lingering. His hands were shaking.

"If . . . all of them . . . fall . . . ." he said, looking up to his master.

Ganondorf's stern glare answered his question more completely than any words.

"They _won't_ . . . fall," he breathed, standing straight, and he was rewarded when the King of Evil gave him a small, slight smile.

"Then stop delaying," he ordered, and the creature nodded. He bowed once more, and grabbed his pack. There was no time to waste.

He had to find the Hero of Time. Find him, and slaughter him at any cost.

* * *

Two days passed before he finally returned to the land of the living. It was another day before he was strong enough to stand up once more.

"I have got to stop with this unconsciousness thing," Link muttered the morning he finally rose from his bed. He looked around, but found Navi, who he usually saved his commentary for, was nowhere to be found.

He was back in Kakariko, having come to in a warm bed in a house set aside on the east side of town, near the windmill. He bore a half-dozen wounds, more sword cuts than he remembered taking, and he found the Goron mail he'd been gifted to be a tattered, battered mess. Impa had been waiting for him when he'd awoken, but Link had only stayed awake for a few minutes before slipping back into sleep. As he finally emerged from the little house, pulling on the green Kokiri tunic he'd worn before, he found she was outside directing repairs.

The first thing Link noticed was the presence of the enormous, lumpy forms of Goron workers and soldiers moving about the village, and the second was that a group of the mountain folk were gathered around the house. The moment he'd emerged, they shot to their feet and let out a tremendous howl, pounding their chests and stamping their feet.

"The Hero of Death Mountain has awoken!" was the most intelligible thing he could hear, and the shout of victory was echoed over and over again. Soon, Kakariko villagers were echoing the yells and shouts, and a crowd had gathered around the house, where Link stood. He simply stared, awestruck by the reception he was getting.

The next thing he knew, he was being hoisted up on the shoulders of a group of eager Goron soldiers, and thousands of voices filled the air with calls of triumph and salvation.

Impa finally arrived to save the day, and she and the city guard, with some Goron troops led by Barock, managed to disperse the crowds. She led him back inside, where he settled down into a chair tiredly.

"Never got that good a reception before," Link muttered, and Impa laughed quietly. Beside her, Barock lumbered inside as well, and Link noticed he wore a leather strap running across his chest and over his shoulders. On his back, he wore the Megaton Hammer.

"Brother!" he said, laughing. "We were worried you wouldn't make it! The condition you were in when the other Shiekah brought you to us was most worrisome."

"Sheik?" Link asked, and Impa nodded.

"The Gorons were not equipped with medicine for Hylians," she added. "They brought you here with a full honor guard detail for treatment."

Link nodded, and looked away for a few moments.

"Barock," he finally said. "Darunia . . . he didn't make it."

Barock nodded solemnly.

"We know," he said, his voice quiet and pained. "As soon as we had you safely here, I took an expedition into the Temple. We found his remains." He lowered his head, rumbling quietly, and a low, deep keen escaped from him. "All of Death Mountain grieves for him."

"As do we," Impa added.

Link nodded, still working on catching up with everything happening around him.

"Where is Navi?" he asked, and Impa shook her head.

"I have no idea," she replied. "She asked us to keep you safe, and then vanished. We haven't seen her since." Link's brow furrowed as he thought about the last time she'd disappeared. She would come back; he trusted her to.

"What happens now?" Link asked after a while.

"With the Temple cleansed, Death Mountain is slowly returning to normal," Barock said. "I have hunter teams scouring the mountain for monsters, and the Sister Impa here has dispatched platoons of her own soldiers to help secure our stronghold."

"Once we've secured the area," Impa added, "the Gorons will help us fortify the region. With their assistance, we should be able to make this region impregnable to Ganondorf's armies."

Link nodded, and then rose. He walked across the room, to where his battered shield and the Master Sword sat on a table, the latter wrapped in cloth. The former was covered in dents and scratched paint, almost unrecognizable, while the latter was unmarred by combat. He drew the blade, and looked into it, seeing his own haggard face.

His blue eyes were dull, sunken. His face was hollow, tired, and he had stubble growing across his chin and jaw. He was dirty, smudged, and bright burn marks surrounded his eyes. Bandages were wrapped around his chest over the many sword wounds he'd suffered.

He looked back to Impa, sheathed the divine sword, and walked back to his bed.

"I feel like hell," he muttered, and she nodded.

"You should rest some more, Hero," she said, and he sighed as he dropped back into the bed. Nothing had ever felt quite so inviting.

A few moments later, Link heard the door close, and darkness claimed him once more.

* * *

Sometime during the night, a blue light descended from Death Mountain and drifted inside the house where the Hero of Time slumbered.

Navi looked over his battered form, sighed to herself, settled in beside her charge, and took a long deserved rest as well.

* * *

It took two more days to heal up to a point where Link could move around at strength, but Impa insisted he rest for a few more. He gave her another day. Navi 's return had convinced Link he needed to get moving, and nothing the Shiekah could say would convince him otherwise.

Impa came to see him as he was securing Epona's saddlebags. His quiver was loaded, his provisions were restocked, and he'd donned the green tunic and chainmail he'd worn all this time.

"You don't believe in resting, do you?" she asked as he clambered onto his horse. He looked down to her as he settled into the saddle, and patted the mare's flank.

"I've done everything I can here," he said. "Hyrule can't liberate itself."

"We're trying," Impa said, and Link sighed, nodding.

"I know," he mused. "But still . . . ."

"Where will you go?"

"Not sure yet," Link said. He smiled. "But I know a good stopping place."

"Goddesses watch over you, Hero," Impa offered, and he nodded, giving her a quick salute.

"And you as well, Impa," he replied, and headed for the gate. Minutes later, Link, Epona, and Navi were galloping away from Kakariko and back into the wider realm.

* * *

They stopped that night to rest under a grove of trees somewhere outside of the province, in the wild fields stretching across the land. Link settled down beneath one of the trees, crunching some nuts from one of his bags of trail rations. He hadn't lit a fire, not needing one and not wanting to draw attention.

After all, Navi gave him all the light he needed.

"So, where were you?" he asked as she sat on his shoulder, casting a chill blue glow in all directions.

"Hm? Out," she replied. He nodded, remembering the last time she had departed for a while.

"You visit the Great Fairy again?" he asked, and after a moment he felt the miniscule weight leave his shoulder. She floated out in front of him, and he stood up. "You did."

"Yes," she replied, bobbing. "Its been a while, but she said she'd been watching you in the Fire Temple. And she had another gift for you, now that you'd grown up. Do you want to learn it?"

Link hesitated, and drew the Master Sword. He peered into its polished metal, seeing his own face reflected in cold blue light. With a nod, he sheathed the holy blade.

"Yeah. Show me."

She led him away from the grove, out a fair distance from the trees. As they walked into the field, Link gained a growing sense of apprehension. Navi was leading him pretty far out; what was she going to teach him this time?

"So, magic," Link said as they finally came to a halt, and Navi bobbed again. Suddenly, he cold blue light turned a bright reddish-gold, and a swirl of glittering motes flashed into existence around her. Theywswarmed in the air, and then shot toward Link, sweeping around him and flowing into his skin. There was a sudden surge of heat, and sweat appeared on his brow. He shuddered as liquid fire lanced through his body for a heartbeat, before being replaced by an icy chill, and dropped to his knees, gasping.

"Whoa."

That was totally different from what had happened last time, when she'd given him the ability to use his own energy as a weapon. Now, something pumped in the back of his mind, like a distant, hammering drumbeat. He was reminded of the Bolero of Fire Sheik had taught him.

"What was that?" he asked, slowly standing up. Navi's light had reverted to its chill blue.

_"You feel the energy, don't you?"_ she asked, her voice distant, and he heard her words echo more clearly in his mind.

"Yes," he replied, touching that pulsing heartbeat with his mind. He saw fire and fury, crackling and surging, welling up within his own body.

_"Touch the heat," _she said. _"Hold it in your mind."_

"I can feel it," Link said, closing his eyes. The liquid fire he'd sensed before was surging back forth, and he could feel it as it started to heat his veins once more.

_"That's the fire of the Goddess Din," _Navi's voice explained. _"Now, draw it out. Bring it forth."_

"Its . . . hot," he whispered, as the heat intensified. "Intense. I can't . . . ." he grit his teeth as the heat built up inside him. He could feel it wanting to erupt, stabbing and thrashing against him, and sweat began to pour down his brow as the fires intensified.

_"Now . . . release it!"_

Link didn't know how, so he just _did_. The fire lanced through his entire body, a flash of immolating pain, and he dropped to one knee, gasping in shocked agony. His eyes still squeezed shut, flashed with a burst of brilliant light, and there was a rush of wind outside of his mind. He heard and felt a blast of displaced air, a shudder of escaping fury, and then . . . .

Quiet.

Link opened his eyes, and found himself standing in the field, in the center of a perfect fifteen-meter-radius circle of ash and scorched ground. Smoke gently rose up into the air.

"What was that?" he breathed.

"Din's fire," Navi explained. He exhaled, the pain replaced by a soothing chill. The sheer power of what he'd just done left him shaking, and he dropped down a sitting position, shivering.

"Okay," Link said, looking around the blackened sphere of death he'd left in all directions. "Now that . . . _that_ was pretty badass."

* * *

The next morning, they finally galloped toward their destination. Link felt a moment of apprehension as he approached, but that faded when he saw the sign over the entrance had been boarded over and replaced with a new - or rather, old - name.

Link rode into Lon Lon Ranch, passing beneath the freshly painted sign, and looked around. He heard the mooing of cattle and the chatter of chickens, but didn't see any people as he trotted into the walled-off ranch.

"Hello!" he called. "Anyone home?"

"One moment!" came a voice, spoken with a tone that Link recognized and immediately made all the aches he was feeling fade away. The side door of the barn opened, and he saw a flash of brilliant red hair. Without thinking, Link immediately leapt down from his saddle, and she looked up. A sudden, shocked smile spread across her features, and a moment later she collided with him in a laughing hug.

"Link!" Malon exclaimed, and he pulled his friend tight, chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, I'm back," he said, and she released him, taking a step back.

"I didn't think I'd see you and Epona again so soon!" she said, hurrying to the horse's side and patting her. She started circling around Epona, checking the mare's coat and mane.

"I was passing through," Link said, walking after her. "Decided I needed to swing by and check on you. Maybe see if Ingo was causing trouble."

"Ingo?" she said, looking up, and laughed again. That sound made him smile. It reminded him of Saria's laugh . . . .

"Did someone call for me?"

Link spun around at the voice, though it spoke in a tone he didn't remember hearing it in before. To his shock, he found a smiling man emerging from the barn, clad in dirty work pants and coveralls. The mustache, balding pate, and sneering jaw were all familiar, but the smile and the gentle, happy way he was talking was firmly at odds with the corrupt ranch owner he knew.

"Ah, hello there!" he called, waving and walking toward them.

"Ingo," Malon said, gesturing. "You remember Link, right?"

Ingo paused, looking Link over, and his eyes widened.

"Oh, yes!" he said, laughing. He extended a hand, which Link hesitantly shook. "I remember you, son! I'm so terribly sorry about that misunderstanding before! I don't know what came over me."

A deep mooing rumble came from the barn, and Ingo looked over his shoulder.

"Excuse me, I must get back to work," he said, and hurried back toward the barn. Link watched him depart, and turned toward Malon, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't hit him _that_ hard, did I?" he asked, and she laughed.

"I don't know what happened, honestly," she said. "I . . . I woke up the day after you took Epona, and Ingo had completely changed. The whole ranch had changed, actually. Like some darkness had fallen over it when we weren't looking but had been swept away."

"Really?" Link asked, walking with her as she led Epona toward the barn.

"Really," Malon said, shaking her head. "I don't know what to make of it, but I've been hearing rumors. Letters sent about by the postal workers and couriers who pass through here, and word from my father . . . they say that the Hero has come."

"Hero," Link echoed, and she nodded.

"The chosen hero of the Goddesses," she said, her voice distant. "Who will fight the King of Evil and deliver Hyrule from his grasp. They say he cleansed Death Mountain! Can you . . . ."

She trailed off, and Link looked to her. She was staring at his side, and he frowned, looking down.

Dark stains marked his tunic.

"Where have you been?" she asked, looking back up. "Have you been . . . ."

She paused, meeting his eyes, and made the connection between what he'd said in the barn the last time he'd been there, and his condition, and his entire reappearance. There was a long moment of silence, where Link swore he couldn't even hear his heart beating as she stared back, realization spreading across her features.

"Link, are you . . . no, you're . . . ."

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "I am."

She looked him over again, her expression uncertain, and then suddenly came forward. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she pulled him into another hug, this one suddenly much more intimate and personal. He found his own arms moving up to enfold her, and for some reason he cursed the chainmail armor that was keeping her warmth from him.

Her hair smelled like apples and fresh milk.

"Thank you," she breathed into his ear.

"For what?" he found himself asking.

"For saving my ranch, Link."

"I didn't-"

She pulled back, looking into him with those striking blue eyes, and shook her head.

"You did," she whispered. He saw what he swore were tears forming in her eyes. "You didn't realize it, but you did."

He looked back at her, and the expression on her face and the emotions in her eyes were something he'd never experienced before. There was a feeling in his chest, vaguely like what he'd felt around Saria, but so much more intense. A _longing_. His fingertips could feel the warmth through the fabric of her dress, and her body heat ran up his arms.

This was something new, and something he found he wanted so _very _badly.

"Hey, now, what's goin' on!"

They both broke apart, looking toward the farm house, and Malon's face went a shade resembling her hair.

"Is that-" Link began.

"Yes, it is," she replied just as the door to the farmhouse burst open, and a gleeful roar rippled through the morning air. Link grit his teeth.

"Link, my boy!" Talon yelled as he grabbed the Hero and hoisted him up with both his massive ham hands. He crushed the boy against his chest in a mighty, hearty bear hug. "How have you been?"

"Breathing better," Link managed, and Talon roared with laughter. He let the boy go, and Link took a couple of breaths, glad for the experience he'd had already with the Gorons' much more pronounced chest-crushing bear hugs. "I see you've been fixing up the ranch."

"I have!" Talon boomed. "And I gotta thank you, Link!"

"No, no, you don't-" Talon's hand slapped Link's back, and he dropped to the dirt.

"Dad!" Malon exclaimed, and Link coughed. He pushed himself up to his feet, and caught sight of Malon glaring at her father, who had taken a step back, raising his hands in surrender.

"Whoa, whoops," he managed to say. She looked back down to Link, and quickly helped him to his feet.

"Link, I'm sorry about that," Talon apologized. "I got so carried away I just . . . ." he started laughing again. "I've been away too long! Seeing the old place again, everything so bright and just like I remember it! It gets to me!"

"Its okay," Link said, dusting himself off.

Talon stopped laughing, and his eyes lit up as an idea hit him.

"Link, I gotta pay you back for all you did," he said. "You stay here tonight. Got a nice supper all ready to go, too!"

* * *

Talon and Ingo were sitting on the porch some hours later, chatting quietly and leaning back in a pair of chairs. The big rancher was idly smoking from a pipe, and affectation he'd picked up during his time in Kakariko. The scent of burning herbs floated through the air as he continued catching up with his old ranch hand. It was as if Ingo had never taken over.

Link had sat with them for a bit after dinner, the excellence of Talon's cooking surprising him. For the last few months he'd been mostly subsisting on trail rations and whatever he'd been able to forage; even when he'd stayed at Ordon and Kakariko, Link had never really eaten much prepared food, and Talon's big meal had reminded him of the occasional parties he'd had back home.

Home. That was so long ago . . . .

He'd excused himself after a bit and took a walk around the ranch. All of the farm animals had been taken back to the barn for the evening, leaving Lon Lon Ranch quiet and serene. The only sounds he heard were the whisper of wind, Navi's murmuring as she slept in the brim of his cap, and the cawing of distant birds.

On his second circuit, he heard a familiar sound, and veered toward the barn. The melody tickled his ears, and it mixed with the serenity of the night to bring a powerful, heavy sense of calm and peace to his mind.

He stepped into the barn, to hear her voice more clearly. The cattle were quiet, none of them making a sound as she sang, and he could see her across the barn. Malon was in one of the stables, brushing Epona's coat, and idly singing the song that soothed her animals. He moved across the barn as quietly as he could, and found a barrel to sit on. Link closed his eyes and let her continue without disturbing the calming, wordless song.

A few minutes later, her voice began to die down, and Link heard her start whispering something to Epona. She took the brush to her mane, running it through the white strands, and as she did so, her whispers grew louder and a bit more annoyed.

"Two weeks, and look at you," Malon said, shaking her head, which tossed her red hair about. "He has no idea how to treat a girl, does he, Epona? Letting your hair get all matted like this. I swear, no responsibility . . . ."

Link sighed, and started to rise to leave, but Epona's sudden snort betrayed his presence. The mare whinnied quietly, and Malon looked up, to see him standing in the middle of the barn, caught red-handed.

"Link," she breathed, and her own face reddened to match his. "How long were you . . . ."

"Through part of the song," he admitted, shrugging, and she sighed before going back to brushing the mare.

"Its true, you know," she said. "You don't have _any _responsibility. Running off like that, without even trying to take care of her . . . ."

"I've been busy," Link said, and she looked back. Her annoyed expression started to soften, and she sighed again.

"Sorry," Malon offered. "I guess . . . if anyone deserves some slack, its you." Link shrugged again, sitting down on the barrel, though he idly wondered where that bit of an outburst had come from. He watched her as she continued moving the brush through Epona's hair, cutting out tangles with as much ruthlessness as he'd shown in slaying the dragon.

"Can you show me?" he asked, and she looked back toward him. Link stood, walking into the stable. "Show me how to treat her?" Malon paused, and he thought he saw her bite her lip, before stepping around beside him.

"Its simple," she said, showing his by reaching up and taking a tuft of Epona's mane. "Just run the brush through her hair. _Gently_. Girls _like_ to be treated gently." He watched her, nodding, and remembered the girls back home in the forest. They were as rough-and-tumble as the boys, and most of the women he'd encountered lately weren't the soft sort either. Malon was probably the gentlest one he'd met outside of Zelda herself, and even she had a toughness to her, quiet as it was.

"Like this?" Link said, taking the brush. His fingers brushed hers, and for some reason she was reluctant to let the brush go. She did so after a few seconds, and took a step back to watch his handiwork. Link did as she'd showed him, and Malon nodded in approval.

"Good," she said, smiling. "That's how you _should_ treat her." He kept that up for a bit, moving down her mane, and after a bit he looked back, about to ask her a question, only to find Malon had gone.

"Malon?" he called. "Hey, Malon! Where'd . . . ." he sighed, and went back to brushing his horse. Epona snorted appreciatively as he finished, and he scratched her side.

"She's right, you do look better," he murmured.

"Yes, she does." Link glanced up, to see Malon had come back.

"Where'd you go?" he asked, and she chuckled.

"You stink," she said, and he blinked a couple of times. "Well, of course _you_ can't smell it. Come on." He patted Epona once more, set the brush down, and followed her. Malon had gotten a large rain barrel set up at one end of the barn, and filled it with water she'd been heating over the barn's burning hearth.

"Yeah, I guess I haven't cleaned up in a while," he mused, shrugging.

"You smell like a volcano," Malon commented. "A _farting_ volcano."

"They call those Gorons," Link said, and she burst out laughing at the random quip.

"I didn't know you did humor," she said as he stripped off his tunic. "I guess . . . oh, Goddesses."

Link stopped, looking back to her, to see her staring at his torso. He glanced down, and nodded. Bright red marks, some covered with black scabs, stretched across his torso, where the Gerudos' blades had struck him. Burn marks, bruises, abrasions, claw impressions . . . . his skin was covered in the remnants of the many wounds he'd suffered, and Malon was looking at them with a mixture of shock and horror.

"Are these fresh?" she whispered, stepping closer and looking at them.

He nodded. A couple of the cuts had reopened on his trip back to Lon Lon, but bandages had dealt with the wounds, and he knew they'd heal up on their own.

"Let me . . . ." she reached for a cloth, and soaked it in the water. "Get in the barrel. Let me wash these. Oh, Farore, you didn't even let them heal. These scabs are fresh . . . ."

Link clambered into the barrel after pulling off his trousers, and the warm water felt good. Even better was when the warm, wet cloth started rubbing across his sore muscles. he could feel her fingers through the fabric.

"Did you even have these looked at?" she asked.

"I stayed in Kakariko for a few days after I got finished," he said. "Impa - she's the one in charge over there, she wanted me to stay for a while, but you know me. Can't stay put."

"You stupid . . . ." Malon muttered. "You've been riding around on Epona with wounds that are reopening. No wonder your clothes are so bloody. How the heck did you even get these anyway? These look like knife cuts, or-"

"Swords," Link replied, letting her wash his back. "I had some trouble in the Fire Temple on Death Mountain."

"It looks like you fell down a staircase made of pitchforks," she grumbled. "How did you even survive some of this? This looks like . . . Farore, you got stabbed in the chest clean through!"

"I did?" Link asked, and she stopped. He glanced back at her, to see an expression of exasperated incredulity on Malon's face.

"No wonder you get injured so much," she grumbled, going back to cleaning his wounds. "You're too stupid to know when you've been hurt."

"Story of my life," Link muttered. He settled back, letting her wash the wounds she could get at, and enjoyed the feeling. It was odd, and relaxing, to let someone else take care of him. He'd been self-sufficient so long, even back among the Kokiri. For her to do this, it was . . . .

"Thank you," he said after a moment, and she paused.

"For what?"

"For this," he said, smiling. "For worrying about me." She grinned back, for a moment, before letting her annoyance reassert itself.

"Well, someone has to look after you, and I don't think Navi is this willing to help out," she replied. He chuckled.

"Navi does her thing," he said. "But you're right. She's never . . . ."

He paused, glancing over his shoulder at Malon, and she stopped as well.

That feeling in his chest had come back, much more strongly than before, and he found he didn't want to look away from her.

"What?" she asked, and he exhaled.

"No one's ever really done this for me," he said. "Not like this, I mean. I've been cared for, looked over and healed, but that was because of what I am. Not because they just wanted to help me."

She stared back for a moment, and then looked away. Her delicate fingers began to wring the cloth out, and she set it on the rim of the barrel.

"Should be better now," Malon said. "I don't-"

His hand touched hers, and she froze. Malon looked down at his fingers, and then looked up, meeting his eyes. It was a momentary impulse, and he suddenly felt as if he'd done something wrong. Link pulled his hand away quickly, and she hesitated, staring down at her own hand. He looked away after a second, and she quickly moved off.

_Well, _he thought after a bit, settling down into the barrel of slowly cooling water. _That was awkward._

* * *

The next morning was uneventful, save for a minor crisis involving a few cuckoos and an open flame. Breakfast was just as good as the dinner Link had eaten last night, though it was a bit more awkward, as neither he nor Malon spoke directly to each other, still trying to sort out what had happened last night. Or at least, Link was; he got the feeling she understood better than he as to what had passed between them last night.

As soon as breakfast was finished Malon excused herself, saying she wanted to get to work in the barn. As she left, Link watched her go with a bit of sadness.

"You scared her off," Navi remarked as they sat outside on an empty milk crate a little later, and he grunted.

"Don't know how," he replied, and he heard her scoff.

"And that's why," she muttered. "If you paid attention to people's feelings sometimes . . . ."

"Yeah, everybody's been giving me the responsibility lecture lately," Link grumbled. In the distance he heard a horse whinny, and could see cattle moving across the pasture.

"I'm not talking about responsibility, I'm talking about _people_," Navi said, floating around in front of him. "You've gotten so caught up in your own quest that you don't recognize how its affecting everyone around you." He raised a quizzical eyebrow and she sighed.

"Link, you still don't get what it means to be a hero, do you?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"I fight," he said. "I get stuck with this responsibility to save the world."

"No," Navi said, and he looked back up to her, surprised at her contradiction. "That's not everything. Look, Link . . . did you see how Malon reacted when she found out who you were?"

"Yeah, she was pretty happy," he replied, smiling faintly at the memory of her warmth.

"That's because you affect everyone around you with your actions. The Gorons, the people at Kakariko, the Kokiri, even here. You make people believe. People don't help you and cheer for you because you're saving the world. People do that because you're bringing them hope."

He thought about that for a moment, sitting back on the crate he'd found.

"Is that why Malon-"

"No, you . . . you big blond dummy," Navi grumbled. "Well, that might be part of it. You know how Saria always treated you?"

"Yeah," Link said, quieting and trying to forget the memories thinking of her brought up.

"Malon's treating you the same way, and its not just because you saved her ranch," she continued. "She just likes you." Link nodded, pulling back from thoughts of the Forest Temple.

"Well, I like her too, but-"

"Link!"

He glanced up at Talon's yell, and saw the big rancher lumbering across the yard, waving something in his hands.

"Hey, Link! You got mail!"

"Mail?" he muttered, rising. How did . . . .

"Those postmen are scary!" Talon said, laughing as he got closer. "They know everything. Don't know how they got word you were here, but . . . ." Talon held out a letter for Link. Curious, he took it and ripped it open.

His eyes flicked over the letter a few times, and he read it twice just to make sure.

"I don't think the postman left this," he whispered.

* * *

He'd packed Epona's saddlebags, and the mare stood ready as patted her side.

"You ready?" he asked, and the horse snorted. He nodded, and made sure the brush he'd gotten from Talon was secured in the bags.

"You're leaving? Already?"

Link paused, looking back toward the barn, and saw Malon standing by the door, a curious and somewhat saddened look on her face.

"Yeah, I . . . " he reached toward one of the pouches, touching the letter, and then decided against it. Something told him that he shouldn't spread word around. "I've got something I have to take care of."

"More heroing?" she asked, detaching herself from the wall of the barn and walking toward him. He nodded. She did so herself, a quick, almost resigned nod of her own, and as she got closer, Link saw she was biting her lip. One of her hands rose to rub her other arm.

"Well, don't get yourself killed," she said, and he nodded again. Link turned, reaching up for the saddle, but then paused.

He sniffed the air. There was the musky scent of Epona, and the myriad smells drifting from the house and barn, but he was sure he caught something else - a whisper of the fresh, woody scents o the forest, the distant sounds of old wooden planks creaking from the wind and the weight of children standing on them. Was it just a memory of something similar, or . . . ?

He reached down to his chest and touched the pocket inside his tunic, where he kept the tiny ocarina she'd given him. After a second, Link turned and looked back toward Malon, who was still rubbing her arm anxiously.

"I'll be fine," he promised, and she nodded. He reached up again for the saddle, and caught that inexplicable scent of the forest again, and the stopped. His hand moved up inside his tunic, and he touched the tiny ocarina again. He slowly took it out, looked over the smooth wooden instrument for a moment, and then turned toward Malon.

"Here."

She looked down at it for a moment, confused, before recognition dawned on her face.

"That's the one you had when we first met," she said, and he nodded.

"It was . . . " he paused, shaking his head. "A friend of mine gave it to me when I left the woods, seven years ago," he explained. "It was a memento. The last thing she ever gave me."

Malon reached out, her warm fingers touching the ocarina and the hand holding it.

"Why are you giving it to me?" she asked.

"If you have it, I'll always have a reason to come back."

She took the instrument, nodding, and looked back up at him. There was a long moment of silence between them, and then she stepped closer, wrapping her arms around Link in a swift and tight hug.

"You'd better come back for it," she whispered into his ear, fiercely. She pulled away, but as she did so, Malon kissed him on the cheek.

Link stood there, frozen for a moment at what had just happened, and she gave him a sheepish smile and a shrug that rippled her bright red hair. After a few seconds, he nodded, giving her a tight smile of his own.

"I will," he promised, and then reached up. He hauled himself up onto the saddle, and looked back to her one last time. She waved with one hand, the other still clutching his - _Saria's_ - ocarina, and he waved beck, before spurring Epona forward.

As he rode, Link's mind remained on Malon for most of the rest of the day, but as night loomed forth once more, he found himself slowly remembering the urgency of his mission, and the letter that had sent him on his way.

_Link,_

_The chill, deathly winds that blew over Death Mountain hailed from Zora's Domain. I fear that the next step along your journey will begin there._

_-Sheik_

* * *

_-_

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_** I recently got an interesting PM from another author who was curious as to whether I was going to have a romance arc in this story.****So, yeah. I think its pretty clear what direction I'm taking that particular relationship :P Malon/Link was always my favorite pairing from Ocarina, and I think it was probably the most likely one as well, if an actual romance had been allowed in the game.

Next chapter, expect a _long_-awaited first contact.

Until next chapter . . . .


	23. Chapter XXII: Mirror

_****_

Chapter XXII: Mirror

For the first time in his life, Link felt cold. _Truly_ cold.

He looked north as Epona trotted along the river bank, the water rushing past them, and shivered. He'd felt cool winds before, during the forest's winter season, but even then the Kokiri Forest stayed temperate, with the trees only occasionally going to red and gold. It had been like the Deku Tree and the forest's magic had held the winter at bay. He'd never felt such a powerfully chill wind before, causing him to shiver and his hairs to stand up on end.

But there was more to this chill than just the low temperature. There was a scent in the air that he couldn't place, which brought back memories of the ghosts and the undead that had lurked in the Forest Temple. The frigid touch of death mixed in with evil.

They were less than a day out from Zora's Domain, yet Link kept his mare moving slowly; he didn't want to charge into any unexpected surprises, and that scent of evil had him on edge. Night crept up on them, and he brought her to a halt beneath a stand of trees which seemed curiously bare and lifeless, their branches drooping and the leaves brown and gold. Against his better judgment, he decided to make a fire to ward off the cold.

Settling back against the trunk of one of the trees, Link warmed his hands against the fire, and wished he'd thought to bring cold-weather clothing. Malon had been right about his impulsiveness.

He closed his eyes, thinking back to her, and felt a little warmer at remembering her face. He kept her memory fresh as he relaxed, and the chill slowly faded away until he slipped off into sleep.

* * *

There was a familiar taste in the chill air, and he shivered at the unaccustomed cold. The thermal flows around the castle and his master's penchant for torches had kept things warm and pleasant, but now there was only the chill of the winds blowing from the Zoras' homeland.

He paused, bringing his mount to a halt, and considered again the path he was taking. With the Forest and Fire Temples cleansed, that meant that only three more remained. Of them, he was certain the Shadow remained untouched, and no word had come from the guards at the Spirit, which meant there was only one Temple he could be trying for. And in order to get there, the Hero would need the Zoras' help.

He smirked. There was little chance of the fish breed helping anyone now.

He halted once again, sniffing the air, tasting the familiar scents wafting through the cold. Curious, he dropped down off his mount and moved along the ground, eyes piercing through the dim starlight. He wasn't limited to simple human eyesight, and that advantage showed its value a few moments later.

Tracks. Horse tracks, to be precise. What looked like an unshod horse.

He looked up the river, his smile becoming more feral, and he chuckled darkly. Reaching up, the shadow hauled himself back up onto his horse. The Hero was no more than a day ahead of him, at best.

The hunt was on.

* * *

Morning came to find the impromptu camp abandoned and Link further along the river. Half a day passed before he was greeted with the distant rumble and roar of the waterfall he remembered from his last trip here, but as they drew closer, flecks of white drifted down through the air in front of him, and chunks of ice began floating down the river past them. Link had no idea what to make of this as he pressed forward into the narrowing canyons that led into the heart of the Zoras' territory.

There was something _wrong _here. The feeling that he was entering a place hostile to his very existence slowly grew on Link as he continued on. The paths narrowed like he remembered them, and he was forced to dismount Epona and lead her by the reins.

Soon, the paths became too treacherous, and the solid blocks of water grew more and more frequent. He left Epona by the river, and she watched him as he moved on reluctantly, her dark eyes regarding him with uncanny intelligence.

Darkness began to settle in again as they drew closer to the Domain, and soon, the sun had gone down. Link would have paused, but the apprehension that was gripping him drove him onward, to find out what was wrong.

As he moved through the narrow cliffs above the rushing water, Link finally realized what was putting him so ill at ease: the sound of the rushing water and roaring falls was gone. He could hear the hiss of a waterfall, but it was weak - almost a shadow, compared with his memories of the last time he'd been here.

He entered the wide grotto where the water had thundered out of the pools far above, and he saw a trickle of descending water from the once-mighty waterfall. The mists of the falls that had guarded Zora's Doman were gone, replaced by the frigid chill, and the flecks of whiteness flicked about far more violently and commonly now. Solid shards of ice filled the pool at the bottom of the thin falls. And far above . . . .

The gateway into the Domain was wide open.

"I don't like this," Link whispered, and began to climb the paths leading to the entrance. "Stay close."

"Right behind you," Navi reassured him, but he found the nervous timbre in her voice more comforting than he expected. At least he wasn't alone in his wary apprehension.

* * *

He was being followed.

Curious. He was being stalked as he was stalking his prey.

He couldn't place the shadow's exact location, nor did he know its intent, but he felt it. Red eyes watching him, sliding along the opposite river bank two hundred yards away, hidden in the foliage. He slowed his steed, and peered across the bank, searching for the watcher.

"I can feel you," he called. "I know you're out there! Identify yourself, in the King's name!"

Silence.

The dark creature's face turned into a frown, and he was left alone once more, the presence disappearing.

The black horse stamped and whinnied, impatient to complete its task.

He shook his head. The King would be informed that there were other spies about. Hyrule's shadows, the Sheikah, most likely. Ganondorf would want him to follow up on that after he killed the Hero, as they were the best lead to finding Princess Zelda.

He kicked his steed into a trot, and continued on up the river, eager to end this.

* * *

He thought moving inside would fight off the chill and protect him from the biting wind. Once he got into the cavern, however, Link understood just how wrong he was. Though there was no wind within the grotto beyond, the cold was intensified, as if it had built a bulwark against any heat inside the cavern. The frigid cold sent vicious shivers through his body.

Or maybe that was just the chill at what he saw.

His memories of Zora's Domain had been of simplistic architecture and flowing water, a cool, safe place filled with life and constant movement. The Zora had done little to embellish their grottos because they lived a constantly mobile life, and the Domain was no exception. Motion defined the species, so they cared little for crafting stonework.

Now, there was only frigid, absolute stillness.

The waterfall he'd remembered falling from high up in the grotto was frozen solid, a pillar of ice looming up into the ceiling. The waters running below were iced over, a solid and unyielding sheet of impenetrable white. He could see no Zoras anywhere; the only movement was the frosted air coming out of his mouth.

Link didn't say anything; his shock and fear for the aquatic people was too sudden and strong for words at the moment. Instead, he broke into a run, hurrying through the stone passages of the city, dodging around sheets of ice lining the passages. Navi hurried after him.

He neither saw nor heard any sign anything was still alive in here, save for his own fearful panting and the pounding of his boots on the smoothed stone.

There were no guards in the throne room, but at last, Link came face to face with a Zora as he rushed into the chamber.

Unfortunately, that Zora was frozen solid.

Link paused, caught somewhere between shock and fear, looking up at the bulbous shape of King Zora. He sat on his throne, but the King and his entire royal chair were encased in a block of gleaming red ice.

"I guess this rules out natural causes," Link whispered rhetorically as he moved across the room toward the King. As with all the other water in the Domain, the throne room's currents and rivulets were frozen solid, so he had to find a side path up to where the King was located. Link reached out to touch the ice, and his fingers brushed across it.

He recoiled in surprise and confusion. The ice wasn't cold - in fact, it was warm. Which meant . . . .

"Not ice," Link said, and Navi bobbed in agreement.

"Some kind of curse," she said. "But it's not dark magic. We would have been able to sense an evil enchantment on the King. Darkness is all around us, but this isn't part of it."

"Some kind of warding spell?" Link mused, tapping the "ice" again. He drew the Master Sword and experimentally tapped the barrier, before hauling back and hacking the blade down across the russet material. The blade rang and deflected off the ice, vibrating wildly, and the Hero grimaced.

"Yes," Navi said, thoughtful. She drifted close to the ice, and he thought she was touching it. "A modified protection spell. It looks like it froze him in time and place."

"I'm betting this is what happened to the rest of the Zora," Link added. "They're probably locked in similar spells underneath the ice. Is there a way to break the curse?"

"Lord Jabu-Jabu is a guardian spirit," Navi said, bobbing again. "He could possibly break it, but . . . ."

She trailed off, and Link understood. If Lord Jabu-Jabu could have broken the curse, why hadn't he?

The answer came a few minutes later when they hurried to the lagoon where the guardian deity made his home, or at least, used to.

The biting cold had redoubled as Link stepped outside, only to find himself alone and in silence, save for the wind itself. He turned to look out over the wide lagoon that the Zora's guardian had dwelt within, and found nothing but drifting snow and ice.

"Well, crap," Link hissed.

* * *

The other dismounted, near to where the Hero had left his horse, though he didn't realize it. The russet mare had already moved off, hiding further away along the river bank and out of sight of the dark creature. Blessed with preternatural intelligence far beyond that of most horses, Epona watched from a safe distance as the creature moved along the narrow ledges and jutting rocks, clambering up the cliffside toward the dead waterfall.

The horse started a bit when she sensed another presence close by, but a soft whisper made her ears flatten. Epona turned to regard the other intruder, who crouched amid the rocks a short distance away. The figure, a shadowy form with gleaming red eyes, moved up alongside the horse, which stamped her feet and shied away slightly, not welcoming something so unfamiliar.

The figure produced a small harp and quietly plucked a series of strings, mimicking a song that sent a wave of calm over Epona. The horse snorted and lowered her head, watching as the figure moved closer and reached out, stroking her neck.

"He went in there, didn't he?" Sheik asked, and the horse snorted again.

"How long has that thing been following him?" the Sheikah asked quietly, and then patted the mare on her neck again.

"Stay here," came the quiet whisper, and Epona stamped a paw and snorted in response. Sheik watched the creature disappear among the stones, and moved to trail it, hoping that the Hero could be found before the monster reached him first.

* * *

"So, theories?"

Link stood on one of the wide shapes of ice that had grown in the frigid waters of the once warm and peaceful lagoon. While the lagoon was still peaceful, it was a serenity brought by emptiness and a scent of evil. The darkness that he had tasted in the air on the way in was stronger.

They'd circled the lagoon, moving from ice floe to ice floe, and found nothing to indicate what had happened to Lord Jabu-Jabu, except that he wasn't to be found anywhere. Now Link stood on the hunk of frozen ice in the center of the lagoon, piecing together what had happened.

"Whatever curse befell the Zora, it removed Lord Jabu-Jabu," Navi said, pacing through the facts. "Jabu-Jabu is a spirit entity, but he could have been killed just like the Great Deku Tree."

"The Triforce of Power would allow Ganondorf to do that," Link guessed, gritting his teeth. If Ganondorf had taken Jabu-Jabu from the Zora the same way he had taken the Deku Tree from the Kokiri . . . .

"He would have had to have been targeted at the base of his power," Navi said. "Ganondorf could have weakened his power, and then either hit him with a death curse or simply slain him outright. The Triforce definitely would have let him do that, if he could have killed the Deku Tree with only his human sorcery."

"But even with Jabu-Jabu dead," Link said, peering across the lagoon and many icebergs drifting across it, "the Zora shouldn't have been frozen like this. Ganondorf would have needed another spell to freeze the Zora. Right?" His knowledge of spells was iffy.

"Right," Navi agreed. "And the enchantment looks long-term. That means it has to have a focus."

"What if it's like what happened to the Lost Woods?" Link asked. "Corrupting the Temple weakens the wards of the guardian spirits, and that lets Ganondorf corrupt the landscape. Cleanse the Temple and we break the curse?"

"Sound like it would work," she said, bobbing again.

"We have to find the Water Temple," Link said. "That's the only way we can save them." He turned toward the docks, all the way across the lagoon, and started across the ice. "Let's get moving."

* * *

There was magic here. He could taste his master's sorcery, the same that had breathed life into him, tingeing the air around the rocky grotto. The ice here was not natural, nor was the icy chill that flowed up and down his spine.

The Zora had been . . . defiant. They thought themselves safe, believed themselves rulers of Hyrule's waters and thus immune to Ganondorf's will. It was true that they held a potent defensive position, and their control over the River Hyrule ensured they held a strategically valuable resource, but the core of their power came from their god.

And the core of Lord Jabu-Jabu's power came from the Water Temple.

He smiled, stepping past the frozen form of the king of the Zora, sitting fat and impotent in his throne room, sealed away behind a block of crimson ice. A fallen king, ruling over a fallen land, locked away for eternity as punishment for their crime of standing against Ganondorf.

The other had come this way. He understood this, because he understood how the other thought. He would want to make sure Lord Jabu-Jabu was still there, watching over his people, no matter how much his instincts would tell him the god was missing. And from there . . . .

The air outside was as frigid as it had been when he'd passed through the falls. A mist hung in the air, limiting his vision as he slipped out onto the ice, but the gleaming red eyes cut through the fog. He paused, and took a long, deep scent of the sweet, frigid air, and drew his blade, before he emerged into the frigid outside.

_Found you, Hero._

* * *

He caught a hint of movement, across the lagoon, and then the scent of _evil_.

Link froze, Master Sword rising. He stood, sword at the ready and shield before him, eyes flicking around the grotto. Navi went silent, and he could feel that she was searching their surroundings with her own innate senses.

They'd both sensed something in the darkness, moving along with them, though neither of them could properly place its source. It had been like a sigh, lost in the echoes of their own voices resounding across the lake.

"See anything?" he asked after a few moments, slowly backing away from the edge of the icy platform.

"Nothing," Navi replied, whispering. "But there's something out there."

"Yeah, I can-" Link stopped, listening intently. Yes, there was something - a sighing sound that reached out across the still lagoon.

Breathing.

They weren't alone.

A rustle. A scrape along the ice, somewhere in the darkness. Link took a step backward, spacing his legs out, raising his shield and sliding into a defensive stance.

Then, silence.

He waited, the Master Sword in his hand, the heavy blade held motionless in his hardened fingers. Despite the chill, he felt a touch of sweat beading underneath his armor, sticking to his clothes. The cold stillness of the grotto crept through his nose, betraying nothing with its empty scent, except for the whiff of evil hanging in the air.

The icy lake before him remained dark and motionless, but that sense of evil, the foreboding darkness of any place corrupted by Ganondorf, lingered. But what was more, the aura of malevolence grew closer, stronger. Always, he had been the one moving toward it, but now, he could sense it closing in on him.

"Link," Navi breathed.

"I feel it," he said, and those words shattered the stillness like an avalanche.

He saw red, gleaming lights of fire, stabbing toward him through the darkness, and the shield in Link's right hand rose. Something charged over the chunk of ice to his forward right, and leapt through the air. There was a flash of drawn metal, striking downward as boots skidded across ice-

Steel smashed into steel. The Hero's shield arm shivered with the sheer power behind the blow, even as he snapped his right arm out and hurled the striking blade aside even as the platform bobbed with the sudden weight that had landed upon it. The Master Sword rose in a swift backhand chop, an expert counter done with the speed and surety of a veteran warrior.

It met steel itself, and was deflected by a gesture, knocking the holy blade aside with as much ease as he himself had parried the first strike. As Link stepped back, sliding into his usual guard, Master Sword held at his waist and raised to strike around his shield, he finally got a good, hard look at the red-eyed spectre, illuminated in Navi's harsh blue glow. It stood a few paces away, matching his stance exactly, a long black blade held behind a matte black shield, peering at him over the top of the steel.

The Hero of Time stared at his own face, regarding him with glittering red eyes and a knowing smile.

* * *

Far away across the remnants of Hyrule, the King of Evil reclined in his throne, hands folded together before him, and stared at the scrying portal before him.

"Finally," he rumbled, laughing quietly in anticipation.

The look on the Hero's face as he stared into _his own _sent a vast smile spreading across Ganondorf's face, and he settled in to watch the show.

* * *

Link stared, not certain what exactly he was looking at, except that it bore his features, clothing, and equipment, like a matte black mirror. Red eyes burned in the darkness, gray-black hair framed the face if equally gray-black skin. The shield the other bore was featureless, while the sword in its left hand was a perfect replica of the Master Sword, forged out of black metal.

"What?" he breathed, not knowing what was going on. The specter across from him smirked.

"Not what," it said, its voice a perfect echo of Link's, except for a slight distortion that made it deeper. "_Who_."

Its sword lashed out an a sudden arcing cut, ringing against Link's shield. He took a step backward, bracing his boots against the slippery ice floor, and intercepted a second cut. The shield shuddered, and then his attacker leapt up in the air, hacking down at Link's head as it struck over the shield. The Master Sword rose, parrying the overhead chop, and Link punched out with his shield, hitting his airborne foe in the chest. The creature tumbled backward, hitting the ice and rolling to its feet.

No, Link understood, not it. _He_.

The creature, the dark mirror of himself, grinned and moved forward again in a loping, unhurried gait, sword and shield bouncing. Just when he got within blade's reach, he snapped forward, a lightning-fast stab that Link caught on his shield and turned aside. The Master Sword arced down, flashing in the dim light, and crashed into his foe's shield. The dark creature deflected the blow, but Link stepped in closer, smacking his shield against his opponent's while it was parrying the Master Sword. The shield went out wide, and the Master Sword arced back, slashing across the creature's flank.

He recoiled, hissing as black blood jetted from the cut, and then the wound sealed just as quickly as it had been opened. The dark vision of Link fell back into a defensive stance, glaring, and then its expression became a smile.

"What are you?" Link demanded, now over his shock. This was a creature of Ganondorf's creation, but not like his other monsters. The black blood sizzled against the ice like acid. It bled like a human, but the blood . . . it was corrupted, somehow.

"I said who, not what," the _other_ replied, edging forward. Link took a step backward. "Just who do you think I am?"

"Something Ganondorf created, obviously," Link countered. "And whatever he made, I can kill." The specter burst out laughing at that, shaking his head.

"You can't kill yourself, Link," he snarled, his smile becoming a predator's grin.

"So, that means you can't kill me, either?" Link replied, brow furrowing in confusion.

"No. I mean, yes. I mean . . . _I_ can kill _you_!"

"No, you specifically said you can't kill yourself, and if you're me, then that means-"

"Stop making sense and die already!"

The other's blade whipped across, and Link picked it off with the Master Sword, deflecting it high. At the same moment, the creature's shield shot forward, crashing into Link's and shoving him backward along the ice. The other's sword came down in an overhead chop, and Link snapped his shield up to catch the blow while thrusting up at his foe's chest. The blade deflected off the other's shield, and he broke away, hopping backward. Link rushed ahead, chasing after him, and the Master Sword hacked down in another lateral chop.

The other ducked low and sideways, sliding under the blow, and his shield shot forward, the edge clipping Link's boots. His forward momentum carried the Hero over the shield, and he toppled forward toward the ice. Link came up in a roll and spun around just in time to parry and block two rapid strikes at his back. The other wore a manic grin as he hopped backward, bouncing from foot to foot even as he held his defensive stance.

Link hissed quietly. This thing, whatever he was, had excellent skill with a sword and shield. The only time Link could recall he'd had to fight an opponent with a similar style was the lizard creature in the Dodongo Cavern, and that was when he was a child.

The other suddenly surged forward, sword hacking back and forth in a series of wild, vicious swings. Link snapped up his shield to block, and took the blows while hunting for an opening. To his surprise, though, the other kept hammering the shield, as if aiming deliberately for it. Each impact shook his arm, but did little to damage the stout metal shield. It was a risky act of wild aggression, and while the other seemed manic and violent, it didn't make sense.

"Link! Behind you!" Navi cried.

Link spared a glance back, and he suddenly understood.

Each impact was pushing back along the smooth ice, and the platform was slowly tipping as the weight shifted backward.

It was shoving him backward until Link's own weight dropped him into the frigid waters.

Link surged forward, meeting the next blow head-on with his shield, boots scraping across the ice. The shield rose up in a hard block, meeting the blade and knocking it backward, and Link shot ahead with two rapid thrusts to force his opponent backward. The other brought up its attack short, snapping its shield down to parry the blows, and then skittered sideways, sliding across the ice. His sword hacked low at Link's knees, and he dropped his own shield to parry.

The other's shield swung up in response and punched out, the metal edge clipping Link's cheek.

Stars flashed across Link's vision, and he was spun around by the impact. The other's sword slashed in hard, and acting purely on instinct, Link brought the Master Sword across to parry. The blades scraped together, holy steel on dark metal. Link spun with the deflection, shield rising and flying out wide, and as he came around, the metal barrier smashed into the neck of his opponent.

They came out of the spin swinging blades, half-blind, and a searing pain lanced through Link's flank. He stumbled away, and knew he'd been hurt badly. He came around, sliding back into a defensive stance, the ice platform bobbing with the shifting weight.

Blood dribbled down the Hero's flank, but he saw he'd hit his own foe down the back. Black blood dripped from the other's armor and stained the ice. He glared at Link, red eyes shining with pure hatred.

This time, the wound wasn't sealing so quickly.

"Ouch," the creature breathed, the words coming out as a sharp hiss. Then he charged.

Their blades and shields met again, but this time it wasn't a clash of swords, but simply an impact of hardened steel and raw rage. Link raised his shield to block and the other slammed into him with all his strength, their weapons locking together as the other's momentum met the Hero's braced legs.

Link found himself skittering backwards, and the ice floe began to tip over again. The other kept pushing, boots skidding and shoving against the ice, snarling and laughing and cursing all at once, forcing his sword down at Link's head. The ice floe began to tip over further, threatening to dump them both into the frigid - and thus lethal - waters.

The Hero twisted the Master Sword around and suddenly withdrew it, for an instant, and then snapped it back forward. the impact on the other's blade knocked it backward, and then Link snapped the Master Sword forward again, twisting the other's blade aside. Their weapons met again, crossed directly overhead - but this time the pommel of the Master Sword was pointing at the creature's temple.

Link brought the blade down hard, and there was a sickening crack as the pommel hit the other across the side of his head.

"Navi!" Link yelled, and the fairy shot down in the momentary opening. There was a flare of blue light, and the other recoiled, momentarily blinded. He fell back, momentum lost for a moment, and he waved his shield and sword before him to prevent the next attack as he recovered his sight.

Link didn't follow through, instead spinning and hacking down behind him with the Master Sword, the blade cleaving through the ice. He spun back toward the other as his vision cleared, and the creature snarled, rushing back at him again. Link raised his shield once more and set his boots.

The other crashed into him again.

"Idiot!" he yelled. "You're trying to do that agai_whoa_!"

Their shields met a second time, but in this case, Link had set his feet properly, and planted his left foot inside the groove in the ice he'd just cut. He spun as the shield met, and redirected the other's momentum around him instead of stopping it cold, and this time, the creature slid past him. The Master Sword lashed out, cutting a deep wound in the other's shield arm, and then it slid over the edge of the ice.

He leapt, in desperation, and hit an ice floe closer to the docks, sprawling onto his stomach. Link, sliding forward on his own platform, leapt forward as well, flipping the Master Sword over in his grip. The next platform was tipping forward under the other's weight, and he drove his shield's pointed bottom into the ice to stop himself from sliding down into the water. A couple of meters to the other's left, Link hit the ice and stabbed the Master Sword down, anchoring himself.

The other's sword came across, and Link had to snap up his shield to deflect. It shivered under the blow, and then a second, and then a third. The ice platform continued to gradually tip over under their weight, and icy water was only a couple of meters from their boots.

"Navi!" Link yelled again, and his fairy companion once again dove to his assistance. She flew in front of the other's face again, for on heartbeat, dazzling his eyes, and as he recoiled, Link snapped the shield down, bringing its rim onto the other's stomach and groin.

The resulting noise was rather satisfying.

Link's left arm flexed and he hauled himself up toward the Sword, trying to balance the weight of the bodies on the ice. He spun around the blade, putting his weight on the other side, and that gradually arrested the ice floe's tip-over.

As the ice floe began to level out, Link tugged at the Master Sword. It began to slowly come loose, but the other was tearing his shield free already. The Hero focused and directed his will and energy into the blade, and the swirling light of the blade's magic began to play around the Sword. A second later, the ice around it cracked, and he tore the weapon free. Link spun, unleashing the energy toward the other-

Only to have a dark swirl of energy crash against it and cancel it out.

"Yeah," the other breathed, grinning through the agony rolling up from his stomach and crotch. "I can do that trick too."

They stared at each other for a second, and Link saw the wounds he had cut into the creature were sealing back up, and the pain from his crushed stomach and genitals was fading with each passing second. He couldn't wear this creature down. He had to hit the dark mirror hard enough that he couldn't recover.

Link's eyes flicked to the icy waters, and he knew how.

"Come on, Hero," the dark creature taunted, moving forward again with that steady, bouncing, almost whimsical gait. "Got any more tricks up your sleeve?"

"Yeah, a couple," Link replied.

The Master Sword hacked down at the creature, and they crossed blades again. The blades met and deflected, shields bashing together. Link hissed in pain as the other's shield clipped him across the knee. He returned the favor scoring a long, glancing cut across the creature's chest, the armor splitting apart under the might of the Master Sword.

They broke away again, Link trying to keep his weight off his bruised leg, while the injury to his mirror simply sealed back up, though the armor remained rent in that particular place.

"The King of Evil's magic is strong here," the creature murmured, smiling.

"Yeah, hardly seems fair," Link grumbled. He glanced across the lake, toward the docks., and realized how he could take advantage of the frozen lake.

"You're not gonna run, are you?" the creature asked, sounding disappointed. "After what you did for your little Kokiri girl, I can't imagine-

The Master Sword cleaved an inch-deep gouge across the front of the other's shield, hurling sparks as it cut. The creature leapt back, surprised, and then burst out laughing as Link stood there, glaring at him.

"Yeah, I figured that would get a rise out of you," he said. "I should-"

He stopped in mid-sentence, flinching, and then frowned. The other looked down at his shoulder. A bit of moonlight glinted off a long, slender needle of steel that was buried a quarter of the way into his shoulder.

"Huh," he murmured. "That's-"

Another needle stabbed into his exposed left knee. A third whizzed past his face, cutting a long gouge in his flesh that sealed up almost immediately. This time, the creature jerked away, raising its shield, and more needles rang off the barrier.

Link spun, looking in the direction the familiar projectiles were coming from, and spotted a dark figure on the shoreline, standing at the docks. He didn't wait when presented with a sparkle of good fortune, and broke away from the creature while he was still defending himself from the thrown needles.

Link dashed across the ice, Navi beside him and lighting the way. On the shoreline, Sheik's arms continued to pump, and more needles flickered in the moonlight. By now he could hear cursing and yelling behind him as the other tried to chase after him. Link spared a glance back and saw the other was chasing after him, bulling through the needles as they buried into its chest and neck, not even bothering to pull them free. Still, the creature was limping from the one wound in his knee.

"Legs!" Link called, bounding to another platform. "Hit his legs!"

He didn't get any acknowledgement, but a moment later the creature's cursing became a shade louder and angrier. Link leapt over another ice floe and was nearly at the docks when Sheik stopped in place and then leapt away suddenly.

A heartbeat later, a metallic claw on the end of a chain latched onto the railing at the dock, and Link heard the rattle of gears and chains tightening and coiling behind him.

"You've got to be kidding me," he breathed as he jumped onto the stone of the docks and spun around.

Someone, maybe the Goddesses, or someone else equally deific, was laughing at him, because the other was closing in, holding a clawshot of similar design to Link's own, and was flying toward the dock with his sword in hand, seconds away.

Link spun and hacked the Master Sword onto the clawshot's blades, the metal ringing as the weapon struck, but not yielding. Link chopped a second time, then a third, and then a dark-metal blade was stabbing at him.

"Not getting away that easy!" the creature roared, swinging his blade as he hit the docks, skidding in place. The shield had been completely discarded, and instead the creature was wielding the clawshot in his right while hacking with the sword in his left. He skittered around as Link's shield took the sword strikes, putting the Hero's back to the icy waters.

Their swords clashed twice more, and the other continued hacking away, aiming at Link's shield and forcing him back again with another of those wild, furious assaults, and then the clawshot flew up in a blur, firing at the Hero's face.

He ducked and twisted aside, and the claw flew past. Link rose up, preparing to countercharge, when he heard an impact behind him, and the sound of the claw latching onto something. The other's eyebrows rose in surprise, and then he was yanked off his feet and sent hurtling past Link.

He whirled to follow his opponent's flight, and saw that the claw had apparently been caught by a slender chain in mid-air and then directed downward to latch onto the ice. Sheik, disentangling the chain from the clawshot, was leaping back onto the docks.

_Now._

"Get back!" Link yelled to Sheik, and started focusing his will. "Everyone, get back!" Navi flittered away, knowing what he was intending, and Sheik's red eyes blinked before the Sheikah simply vanished from sight.

It boiled up in his heart. Liquid fire suddenly seethed through his veins, broiling heat that didn't burn or sear his body or his clothes.

Across from him, the other was rising up, digging his fingers and the clawshot into the ice to stop his skid, and started to stand.

The fires within him beat against his body, pulsing through his muscles and his veins and his mind. Despite the deathly chill, sweat poured down Link's brow.

The other scrambled to his feet, and with a howl, he charged, raising the clawshot toward the Hero's face.

Link grimaced, and then sent the searing heat building within straight through his arms and out his left hand. He dropped the Master Sword and slammed his palm into the ground.

The sun rose on Zora's Domain, if only for a couple of seconds, as Din's wrath was unleashed.

A dome of roiling fire seared out from around him, scorching stone and sending gouts of steam from every icy surface it contacted. The individual strands of flame whipped and twisted, alive in their own right, shaped by magic and Link's spirit and unleashed like hellish snakes.

The struck the other as he charged across the ice, and he recoiled, screaming in pain, clothes set ablaze and his armor glowing white hot as the heat seared it. Steam roared up around him as the ice melted and erupted, and suddenly he was falling.

Then, it was cold. So cold that the sudden shift in temperature caused his armor to snap and break as frigid water rushed up through him, filling his every extremity with sheer, deathly cold.

He thrashed, twisting, heat sapped away by the pervading, frigid water and leaving in its stead only a dead numbness. He screamed as he sank, air escaping his lungs and the chill waters replacing it.

The dark magic that sustained his life could only defend against physical damage. It fought to keep him alive, but even the spells of Ganondorf, King of Evil, could not stave off the swift, rapid death of his body as air was lost and lethal cold settled in.

As he reached the bottom of the lake, the dark mirror of the Hero of Time began to break apart, flares of dark, purple light emerging from his corpse as it dissolved into the once-sacred waters of Jabu-Jabu's home.

On the surface of the lake, the ice was already reforming, as if annoyed that they had been evaporated, and within minutes, the grotto a still, frozen, and darkened place once more.

* * *

Back inside, in the slightly warmer confines of Zora's Domain, Link winced as he walked down the smooth stone ramp toward the throne room.

"Are you hurt?" Sheik asked, and Link grunted.

"Oh, you bet," he replied, wincing as they walked back into the throne room, passing the still-silent king.

"You need to rest," the Sheikah said. "Let me patch you up."

"I'll live," Link grunted, straightening and walking more steadily. "But rest sounds like a good idea anyway."

"He doesn't rest," Navi grumbled, her tinny voice annoyed. Sheik looked back toward the lake outside.

"That thing-"

"Yeah," Link said. "Ganondorf's making copies of me now. He must be bored or something." Link raised a hand and gestured toward the King. "So . . . bad juju?"

"Yes, bad . . . juju," Sheik replied. The Sheikah glanced up at Navi, who bobbed once in a dismissive manner, as if saying _don't ask me_.

"What happened?" Link asked settling onto a non-frigid part of the floor. He opened his pack and took out some bandages, and got to work, peeling off his armor and his tunic enough to apply the cloth.

"Zora's Domain has been cursed," the Sheikah said, and he grunted.

"I thought the ice was just redecoration," he mumbled. "Give a nice touch of death and finality to the place."

Sheik glared down at him for a second, and he shrugged.

"Near death experiences get me cynical," he said, after a moment. "Sorry. Please, keep on."

"The Temple of Water has been corrupted by Ganondorf," Sheik continued. "Without it, Lord Jabu-Jabu couldn't protect the Zora. The Zora themselves tried to deny Ganondorf control of the waterways around Hyrule. His response was . . . decisive."

"So, the Zora are all dead," Link muttered, to which Sheik's head shook.

"Not dead, simply put into stasis." He raised an eyebrow. "Frozen. Only . . . without the freezing and the death. This ice is magical. You saw what happened when you melted the ice in the lake. The curse sustains it and keeps the Zora here in a state of suspension."

"And the curse is powered by the Water Temple and whatever's inside it," Link said, nodding. "Gotcha. Me and Navi figured most of that out already, but good to know for sure. So, clean out the Temple, break the curse, break the ice." He frowned. "Guess just using Din's Fire won't work on this ice."

"No," Sheik said, head shaking, and that made Link's eyebrow rise again.

"You're familiar with the spell," he said, and the Sheikah nodded. A couple of seconds passed. "And?"

"And?" Sheik replied, raising both eyebrows in turn.

"There's an awful lot you don't tell me," Link muttered, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes. "Like the locations of all these Temples."

"If I knew where they all were, I would have told you," Sheik replied. "And even if I'd told you where the Temple was, that wouldn't have stopped you from coming here, and being ambushed by that thing."

"Lucky he decided to fight me in a dramatic location," Link grunted. "Why'd you come after me?"

"I know where the Water Temple is," the Sheikah replied, and that made Link's eyes open. "You won't be able to reach it on your own, unless you can breathe in water."

"Naturally," Link said. "Never easy, is it?"

"It can be," Sheik said, "sometimes." A moment later, the backpack slung across the Sheikah's shoulder fell to the floor, and Sheik opened it.

"It's . . . ." Link frowned, looking for the proper word. "Blue."

* * *

"And it has flippers."

Link glared at Sheik. It was a couple of days later, and they were well outside the Domain and the chill waters flowing around it. The grassy plains of Hyrule stretched out in all directions, and the river ran below them.

"You'll need them," Sheik explained. "They're useful for underwater movement."

"It. Has. Flippers."

Link wasn't a terribly fashionable sort, but the Zora-crafted scale armor he was wearing was ridiculous by his standards. Silvery scale mail covered his torso, and a silky blue cloth extended from head to toe, and scale gauntlets covered his forearms and hands. That part was fine, and he actually though that, minus the rest, the outfit was actually kind of stylish.

But he was wearing a big metal fish on his head. And big black flippers instead of boots.

"How do I fight in flippers?" he demanded.

The "fish" was more of a bronze and sapphire studded combination of helm and facemask, but it had a long and floppy blue extension on the back that reminded him of his favored hat, except it was shaped like a long and floppy fish, complete with fins.

"They're necessary," Sheik repeated.

"Flippers!"

And there were the flippers, too.

Above them, Navi sighed and drifted away, to where Epona was grazing on some grass.

"This is going to take a while," she murmured, and Epona snorted, as if in sympathy. At the river bank, the argument continued on for a good long while.

* * *

Cold.

It was cold and it was empty and he was alone and yellow light dug into his eye sockets and hard stone pressed against his body and a shadow loomed overhead and-

–_couldn't breathe –_

A gauntleted hand's fingers were wrapped around his throat, raising his naked body up into the air.

Yellow eyes glared down at him, but there was no anger in them. Only disgust, and disappointment.

Somehow, that was worse than the towering rages he'd endured before.

"Pathetic," Ganondorf snarled, looking down at the naked, dark copy of the Hero of Time. "Useless. Worthless. _Pointless_."

His arm flicked, and the copy smashed into a nearby wall, blacking out for a few seconds. When he came to, his head was wreathed in agony, and the King of Evil loomed in the center of the room, amber light streaming in from the stained glass windows.

"Master," he breathed, trying to rise, and did so shakily.

Ganondorf gestured, and a bolt of white energy smashed into him, throwing him against the wall again. Snarling, the King of Evil stalked toward him.

"I do not understand what value you have to me, now," he rumbled. "Such a pathetic thing groveling before me. You are like a child, but at least a child has an excuse for being useless!" He raised a hand, another bolt of energy surging into his fingers, and he fired again, hitting the clone in the chest. The creature fell back against the wall, grunting in pain.

"Now," the King of Evil rumbled, looming overhead. "You do not need to explain your failure, for I saw it clearly with my own eyes. Therefore, you should prove to me that I have a use for you."

The creature stared up at Ganondorf, meeting his eyes. His red eyes connected with the King's yellow, and a myriad of emotions hit him: shame, at losing to his enemy and this losing his master's favor. Fear, for his own well-being and for the agonies he knew his master could inflict if he was angered. Rage, at being so humiliated by the Hero.

And determination that he would not be defeated again so easily.

He stood, shakily. He reached up, pressing his hands against the wall, rising as best he could with his legs so weak from the reincarnation. Ganondorf raised a hand, summoning more power into his fingers, but he continued to rise, clambered up onto his feet. The energy in the King's fist grew to almost blinding levels, but he managed to steady himself and meet Ganondorf's gaze.

The King of Evil loomed over him, nearly twice his height, and the power in his hands shivered the air. It was enough strength to kill a man in an instant, boiling the flesh off his bones. Their eyes stayed locked together.

Ganondorf finally grunted, and with a flick of his fingers, the magic in his hand faded away.

"You are fortunate your existence is tied in with the Temples," he muttered, turning and stalking back across the room, cape billowing behind him. "That spell was complex, but it might yield some value. At the very least, I can afford to keep sending you out to die like a worm."

"Then I can go out to avenge my defeat, my King?" the creature asked. Ganondorf paused, and then turned.

With a flick of his wrist, he released a bolt of magic that blew the creature's head clean off his shoulders. The body collapsed, falling apart into fire and ash.

"Yes," Ganondorf said, nodding, and walking away from the summoning chamber. Behind him, darkness began to meld together as the magic binding the creature to this world reformed him, using the strength of the corrupted Temples. In less than an hour, he would be conscious again.

"Yes, my champion, you _can_."

* * *

-

* * *

**_Author's Notes: _**Yeah, that took too long to write. But hey, Dark Link. :D

Next chapter, the Water Temple. _**Yay. :(**_

Until next chapter . . . .


End file.
